Starring: Jodie Comer
Distributor: National Theatre Live
Runtime: 120 mins. Reviewed in Sep 2024
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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Tessa is a young, brilliant barrister. From working class origins, she has reached the top of her game. An unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge.
There have been many admirable one-woman, one-man performances where audiences marvel that one performer could convey so much drama, so many characters and bring to life a play with such skill. Among the top one-performer plays, Comer as Tessa, a British lawyer in Prima Facie, has to be one of the best.
Comer came to audience attention on television series, Killing Eve. She also appeared in several films, stealing the show as a 1960s Midwestern wife of a bikie in The Bikeriders (2003).
At the beginning of Prima Facie, written by Australian lawyer and television presenter, Suzie Miller, Comer is full of energy, assurance, speaks exceedingly quickly, is on the move around the stage, moving furniture, changing clothes, telling a narrative, vivid in her descriptions of what is taking place, and vivid in her voices and intonations to indicate a variety of characters and their interactions. It is a tour-de-force, emphasis on the force.
In the second half, Tessa turns down somewhat, she is the victim of a sexual assault by a colleague, makes the decision to bring the case to court, inviting the audience to share her experiences, confiding in the audience, describing what is happening, the accused’s defence using some of the tough tactics she had used in the first half of the play.
In many ways, this is an exhausting experience for the audience – who is in vast admiration for the versatile, exhausting performance by Jodie Comer.
It is also a welcome addition to screen versions of performances from the British National Theatre where worldwide audiences have an opportunity to experience something of the world of international theatre.
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