PRIMA FACIE*

Against all odds, working-class daughter Tessa Ensler becomes a successful criminal defense lawyer who among others, represents men on trial for sexual assault. She believes in the law, believes in the legal system and defends the presumption of innocence. In dubio pro reo. When in doubt, in favor of the defendant.
But something happens that causes her entire belief system to collapse. She becomes a victim and goes from being a defense lawyer to a prosecutor. She has to experience first-hand that the female experience of sexual violence does not fit into the male-dominated justice system.
The perpetrator is her colleague Julian, with whom Tessa had become involved in an office affair. While spending an evening together in Tessa's apartment he sexually assaults her. She flees the building and presses charges knowing that her chances of winning in court are slim. The prima facie* evidence is against her. But she decides to fight.
It is an indictment of us all and of a justice system that was created by men, for men.​

 

Suzie Miller's stirring monologue opened in Sydney, Australia, in 2019 and has since won the 2020 Australian Writers' Guild Award, the 2020 David Williamson Award and the Olivier Award, the highest accolade in British theater. It is one of the biggest theatrical successes of recent years.​

 

*prima facie: legal term for “prima facie evidence”, “at first appearances”