Review: PRIMA FACIE, Harold Pinter Theatre

It is doubtful that Prima Facie would have received the same pre-show hype if Jodie Comer had not been making her West End stage debut in the production. The transition from screen to stage is littered with fallen idols, but fans can rest assured that the play and Comer's performance is worth getting excited about.

Comer plays Tessa, an intelligent and self-assured barrister who frequently defends men accused of sexual assault. When Tessa is assaulted by a male colleague and decides to press charges, she begins to question everything she has been taught and believed about the legal system and how it treats victims of sexual assault.

Comer shows no sign of her inexperience on stage and demonstrates a remarkable amount of energy and emotion throughout the production. As she fights against the insistent, thumping background beat in the first twenty minutes of the production, she comes across as a little shouty, but then settles into an engaging and passionate performance.

Comer is entirely believable as she deftly demonstrates how Tessa is a different person by the end of the play; her confidence and self-belief is broken. As hard as the subject matter is to watch, Comer is consumed with the part and is absorbing to watch.

The first half of the play is pacey and sharply witty; Tessa recounts tales of destroying witnesses on the stand as she plays a game of law. The second half becomes increasingly uncomfortable, as Tessa struggles to reconcile the actions of the profession she loves, with her own lived experience of having to rely on it for justice. The bias of the system towards the male perpetrator come sharply and painfully into focus.

Director Justin Martin gets Comer to make use of every part of the Pinter stage; Comer reclines on chairs, struts on desks and gets drenched in a dramatic rain-storm as she waits for a taxi.

Natasha Chivers' intelligent lighting punctuates the production by highlighting different parts of the stage and using a flash surrounding the arch. As Tessa speaks to the court, Chivers raises the house lights slightly to make the audience feel like that they are part of the watching gallery.

When writer Suzie Miller studied criminal law, she realised how sexual assault is not treated in the same way as other crimes; in that a case is almost impossible to win. Miller deftly exposes how the current court system is not fit for purpose in the prosecution of sexual offences; proving something beyond reasonable doubt is usually impossible when the only supporting evidence is of one person contradicting the other.

There is no doubt that there are some very important messages in the play. However, the script descends into feeling a little like a lecture towards the end. Comer's appearance has made this play a sell-out, but her blazing performance deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.

Prima Facie is at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 18 June

Photo Credit: Helen Murray

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