Prima Facie
Suzie Miller's moving, multi-award-winning monologue about the criminal defense attorney Tessa, who learns that the female experience of sexual violence does not fit into the male-dominated judicial system – one of the greatest theater successes of recent years is coming to Vienna!
„I only know that somewhere. Sometime. Somehow. Something has to change.“
Tessa is a criminal defense lawyer, and her specialty is primarily men who are on trial for sexual assault. She does not have to prove whether the victim consented, but rather that her client did not know that there was no consent. And Tessa is very successful in her job. Her advice is sought after by colleagues. Julian from her firm also asks for her help. The two grow closer and have sex that both enjoy. But at the next date, something happens: Julian becomes sexually aggressive. And Tessa is faced with the question of how her life should continue now. Was it just bad sex in a heavily intoxicated state – or was it rape?
„So much is at stake: my private life, friends, family. My career. Everything, just everything. That scares me.“
Tessa goes to the police. And she becomes a witness for the prosecution. From now on, she experiences the proceedings in the courtroom from the other side, which changes her perspective on things.
For years, since her law studies, the author Suzie Miller had the idea for PRIMA FACIE*. But it only came to fruition against the backdrop of the global #MeToo movement that started in 2017. The play bridges art and social change. Because still, filing a report of a sexual crime entails attending all court dates: appearing for the prosecution, cross-examination, and media coverage – which requires extraordinary courage. And the process of coming to terms with it is long and requires great trust in the justice of the legal system. But does this system even deserve that trust? Or does it continue to make victims of sexualized assaults prefer to stay silent? How can, how must society evolve to reform this area?
Suzie Miller's stirring monologue premiered in Sydney, Australia, in 2019. In the spring of 2022, Jodie Comer (KILLING EVE) played the role of Tessa at the National Theatre in London. More than 300,000 audience members saw the play live in cinemas through the broadcast of the National Theatre. Awarded the Australia Writers’ Guild Award 2020, the David Williamson Award 2020, and the Olivier Award 2023.
Directed by Laura N. Junghanns, who most recently staged the world premieres DER TERMIN based on the novel of the same name by Katharina Volckmer and DIE COUSINEN by Nava Ebrahimi at the Volkstheater.
*Prima facie: legal term meaning “presumption of evidence”, “subject to revocation”
Cast
with Anna Rieser
Directed by Laura N. Junghanns
Set design Michael Sieberock-Serafimowitsch
Video art Max Hammel
Video art collaboration Lisa Rodlauer
Music HANNS
Dramaturgy Ulf Frötzschner
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
