‘PRIMA FACIE’: Jodie Comer. Photo: Bronwen Sharp.

PRIMA FACIE
Written by Suzie Miller
Directed by Justin Martin
Through July 2, 2023
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street

(212-239-6200), www.PrimaFacieplay.com

By David NouNou

To fully appreciate the play Prima Facie, one must understand the definition. The legal term prima facie “refers to a case in which pre-trial evidence was reviewed by a judge and determined to be sufficient to warrant the trial.”

Tessa (Jodie Comer) is a criminal defense barrister in the U.K, or “lawyer” as we say in the U.S. From the beginning, she describes in detail the thrill she gets when prosecuting a case and how she meticulously outlines the extraction of truths from a defendant and entraps them. She goes back to her early days in law school where she was one of 200 students in this elite class and being informed by the professor “look to your left, look to your right, one of you will not make it till the end.” Now, we get a fuller picture of who Tessa is and the determination and the love she has for the law.

She takes a case prosecuting a female rape victim, and with the loopholes in the legal system, she victimizes the woman in the case. She gets involved with a fellow barrister—the date they go on, the excessive drinking, and then inviting him back to her apartment, and what ensues. In the aftermath, she goes to report it to the police. After the incident, she finds herself in a position where the tables have reversed on her where she is the victim that is being prosecuted. She now feels the agony and shame of victimization and how the law is structured.

Being a solo play, the show rests on Jodie Comer. The performance is a revelation. She peels off layer after layer, whether in her triumphant moments or in her deepest despair. She never goes after our sympathy. She is a headstrong woman and proud of her accomplishments as a barrister. She doesn’t ask for pity but to right the wrongs in the law. Only an accomplished actress of infinite dimension can accomplish this feat, and Jodie Comer is that actress.

The main problem I had with the play is the direction of Justin Martin. There are so many sound effects from the beginning—with beating hearts to loud music—all of which are more of a distraction and jarring than complementing the play or Ms. Comer’s performance. When dealing with a serious subject of rape, less “noise” would have made sensitive moments more compelling and less distracting.

We have seen so many of these cases in America; this could be in any part of the world. The play isn’t just about rape victims and the horrors they endure. It is also about the unjust criminal law system and the reforming the system needs; to have women be heard and not allowing men to go free due to the loopholes in the law.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 27, 2023
Reviewed at April 26, 2023 press performance.

‘PRIMA FACIE’: Jodie Comer. Photo: Bronwen Sharp.

‘PRIMA FACIE’: Jodie Comer. Photo: Bronwen Sharp.

‘PRIMA FACIE’: Jodie Comer. Photo: Bronwen Sharp.

The post ‘Prima Facie’: Jodie Comer is a revelation appeared first on StageZine.

LONDON— On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at the Royal Albert Hall, the West End production of Prima Facie won 2023 Olivier Awards for Best New Play and Best Actress for star Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”).

This month, Comer makes her Broadway debut in the solo play by Suzie Miller under the direction of Justin Martin (The Jungle). Previews for Prima Facie begin on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at the Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street). Opening night is Sunday, April 23, 2023. The production will play a limited 10-week engagement through Sunday, June 18, 2023. Tickets are available at Telecharge.com.

‘PRIMA FACIE’: Olivier Award winner Jodie Comer in the new drama starting Broadway previews on April 11, 2021. Photo: © Helen Murray.

For her performance in Prima Facie, which marked her West End debut, Comer also won the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress, the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Performer in a Play, the West End Debut Award from The Stage, and the BroadwayWorld UK/West End Award for Best Newcomer.

Playwright Suzie Miller also won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play.

Tessa (Comer) is a thoroughbred. A young, brilliant barrister. She has worked her way up from working class origins to be at the top of her game; defending; cross examining and winning, until an unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge.

Prima Facie will work with The Schools Consent Project, a UK-based charity founded by Kate Parker that educates young people on issues surrounding consent and sexual assault. In addition to fundraising and donations, the production will work with the charity and various school groups to foster further understanding and education and extend the organization’s outreach in US schools.

Prima Facie will also work with Everyone’s Invited, a digital safe place for survivors to share their stories completely anonymously. Founded by Soma Sara, Everyone’s Invited provides many survivors a sense of relief, catharsis, empowerment, and gives them a feeling of community and hope.

The producers of Prima Facie recently announced that 10 tickets will be made available for $10 each at every performance via a weekly digital lottery. The $10 price point is inclusive of all fees. Beginning April 5, 2023, tickets priced at $10 for the following week’s performances will be released every Wednesday. For an opportunity to purchase a pair of seats at $10 each and to receive a weekly reminder to join the lottery, register via the Prima Facie website at primafacieplay.com/ticket-lottery

Jodie Comer won a 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for her mesmerizing performance as the psychopathic Russian assassin Villanelle in the BBC spy series, “Killing Eve.” She has also received two British Academy Television Awards for “Killing Eve” and “Help.” Her credits include the films The Last Duel and Free Guy, and the TV series, “Thirteen,” “The White Princess,” and “Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned.” Upcoming roles include the films The End We Start From and The Bikeriders.

Jodie Comer shows off her Olivier Award for Best Actress at the Oliver Awards in London on April 2, 2023. Photo: Pamela Raith Photography.

Anglo-Australian playwright Suzie Miller is a former human rights and children’s rights lawyer. Prima Facie originally premiered in 2019 in Sydney where it won the 2020 Australian Writers’ Guild Award for Drama, the 2020 David Williamson Award for Outstanding Theatre Writing, and the 2020 prestigious Major Australian Writers’ Guild Award across all categories of theatre, film, and television.

Director Justin Martin is best known for his staging of The Jungle, which has played at the Young Vic, the West End, St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York, and in San Francisco. Other credits include Low Level Panic, Last Chance: A Plea For the Unaccompanied Children of Calais, The Nether, Fifty Two, Good Chance/No Chance, Harvey and Frieda, Street, The Kitchen and Skintight.

Prima Facie features an original score by Rebecca Lucy Taylor, who is better known as Self Esteem, and who completed her debut US Tour earlier this year for her new album, Prioritise Pleasure. She will embark on a UK tour in 2023, before returning to the US for a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on April 12, 2023. Her soundtrack album for Prima Facie is available on digital streaming services.

Dani Arlington, who understudied the role of Tessa for the West End production, will be the understudy for the Broadway engagement.

Set and costume design is by two-time Tony Award nominee Miriam Buether. Lighting design is by Drama Desk nominee Natasha Chivers. Sound design is by Drama Desk Award winners Ben & Max Ringham. Video is by William Williams for Treatment Studio.

Production Stage Manager is Diane DiVita. Assistant Stage Manager is Georgia Bird. Marketing is by Liz Furze for AKA. Production Management is by Liza Luxenberg for Aurora Productions. General management is by 101 Productions Ltd. Company manager is Katie Andrews. Associate Producer is Kerrise Stewart.

Jodie Comer, Dani Arlington and Georgia Bird are engaged with the support of Actors’ Equity Association.

Prima Facie is produced by Empire Street Productions, Elizabeth Armstrong, Barbara Broccoli, Caiola Productions, Kristin Caskey, Echo Lake Entertainment, Eilene Davidson Productions, Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Faliro House, FilmNation Entertainment, Dale Franzen, L.T.D. Productions Inc., Holly Anderson Levow, Stephanie P. McClelland, Olympus Theatricals, Rachel Sussman and The Shubert Organization.

Trigger Warning: As much as we don’t want to give away any spoilers, we recognize that this play can cause distress or trigger challenging emotions for some audience members. Prima Facie includes sensitive subject matters including reference to sex, violence, and sexual assault. For more details and resources, visit primafacieplay.com.

The post NY previews for Olivier winner ‘Prima Facie’ start 4-11-23 appeared first on StageZine.

Winners announced for Olivier Awards 2023 with Mastercard 

• RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro triumphs with six awards including the Noël Coward Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play and the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director 
• Best Actress was awarded to Jodie Comer and Paul Mescal took home the Best Actor award 
• Standing At The Sky’s Edge won Mastercard Best New Musical 
• Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! Won Magic Radio Best Musical Revival 
• Other acting wins included Katie Brayben, Beverley Knight, Arthur Darvill, Will Keen, Zubin Varla and Anjana Vasan 

LONDON—The winners have been unveiled for this year’s Olivier Awards with Mastercard, British theatre’s biggest night, which took place this evening (Sunday, April 2, 2023) at the Royal Albert Hall in London, hosted by Hannah Waddingham.

The biggest winner of the night was the RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro, the theatre adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s 1989 coming-of-age anime film. The show won six of the nine categories it was nominated in, including the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director, awarded to Phelim McDermott, and the Noël Coward Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. The productions other wins included Tony Gayle for d&b audiotechnik Award for Best Sound Design, Jessica Hun Hang Yun for the White Light Award for Best Lighting Design, Kimie Nakano for Best Costume Design and Tom Pye for the Blue-i Theatre Technology Award for Best Set Design.

Three productions from The Almeida Theatre triumphed on the night. Will Keen won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Patriots, and Tammy Faye garnered two acting awards – Katie Brayben for Best Actress in a Musical and Zubin Varla for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical.

The final multi-winning show at the Almeida Theatre was Rebecca Frecknall’s revival of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. Paul Mescal won Best Actor for his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski and Best Actress in a Supporting Role was awarded to Anjana Vasan for playing Stella. The play also won the esteemed Cunard Best Revival award.

Jodie Comer accepting her Best Actress Olivier Award for ‘Prima Facie’ at the 2023 Olivier Awards in London. ‘Prima Facie’ opens on Broadway April 23, 2023. Photo: Christie Goodwin

Best Actress went to Jodie Comer, for her performance in solo drama Prima Facie, which won the coveted Delta Air Lines Best New Play award. The filmed production was seen by hundreds of thousands of people, making it the highest-grossing Event Cinema ever released in the UK and Ireland.

This Olivier Awards was a year of firsts. The recipients of both the Best Actor and Best Actress categories, Paul and Jodie, were nominated for their West End debuts, and 16 of the 18 named winners were receiving their first ever Olivier Award.

Mastercard Best New Musical was awarded to Standing At The Sky’s Edge. Set in a council estate in Sheffield, where it debuted in 2019, the musical transferred to the National Theatre this year. Richard Hawley & Tom Deering also took home the award for Best Original Score or New Orchestrations for this production.

As well as performing twice in the ceremony, Beverley Knight picked up the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her performance as Emmeline Pankhurst in the musical retelling of her daughter Sylvia’s lesser-known story.

Elsewhere, Dickson Mbi won Outstanding Achievement in Dance for his choreography of Enowate, and Traplord by Ivan Michael Blackstock won Best New Dance Production. In the opera categories, Will Kentridge won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, for his conception and direction of Sibyl and the TAIT Award for Best New Opera Production went to Alcina. Both productions were staged at the Royal Opera House.

For the second year in a row, the Bush Theatre was home to the winner of Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre (representing smaller London venues). The winning show was The P Word, the tale of two very different gay Pakistani men navigating modern Britain.

Hey Duggee The Live Theatre Show, which sees beloved animated character Duggee brought to life, won Best Family Show.

The ceremony celebrated Sir Derek Jacobi, who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to theatre throughout his career.

The star-studded Olivier Awards ceremony featured performances from all the Mastercard Best New Musical nominees – The Band’s Visit, Standing At The Sky’s Edge, Sylvia and Tammy Faye. There were also performances from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and Sister Act, both nominated for Magic Radio Best Musical Revival.

Disney’s Newsies, whose choreographer Matt Cole won the Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer, and multi-Olivier winner The Book Of Mormon (celebrating 10 years in the West End) also performed.

The show culminated in a tribute to Special Award recipient Dame Arlene Phillips, with a performance from Grease The Musical – a production she famously choreographed.

The Olivier Awards continues its partnership with ITV, which broadcasts the ceremony tonight in the UK at 10:15pm on ITV1 and ITVX. The full ceremony was also broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall on Magic Radio. Outside the UK, the Olivier Awards was live on YouTube.

Paul Mescal at the 2023 Olivier Awards in London, accepting his Best Actor Olivier Award for playing Stanley Kowalski in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’ Photo: Christie Goodwin.

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Full list of winners for the Olivier Awards 2023 with Mastercard:

Cunard Best Revival

A Streetcar Named Desire

Almeida Theatre

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Will Keen

Patriots

Almeida Theatre

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Anjana Vasan

A Streetcar Named Desire

Almeida Theatre

Blue-i Theatre Technology Award for Best Set Design

Tom Pye

RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro

Barbican Theatre

Best Costume Design

Kimie Nakano

RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro

Barbican Theatre

Best Actress

Jodie Comer

Prima Facie

Harold Pinter Theatre

Best Actor

Paul Mescal

A Streetcar Named Desire

Almeida Theatre

Outstanding Achievement in Opera

William Kentridge

for his conception and direction of Sibyl

Barbican Theatre

TAIT Award for Best New Opera Production

Alcina

by The Royal Opera

Royal Opera House

Delta Air Lines Best New Play

Prima Facie

Harold Pinter Theatre

Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director

Phelim McDermott

RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro

Barbican Theatre

Unusual Rigging Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre

The P Word

Bush Theatre

Noël Coward Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play 

RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro

Barbican Theatre

Best Family Show

Hey Duggee The Live Theatre Show

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

Outstanding Achievement in Dance

Dickson Mbi

for his choreography of Enowate

Sadler’s Wells

Best New Dance Production

Traplord

by Ivan Michael Blackstock

180 Studios

Magic Radio Best Musical Revival

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!

Young Vic

Best Original Score or New Orchestrations

Richard Hawley & Tom Deering

Music & Lyrics by Richard Hawley and Orchestrations by Tom Deering

Standing At The Sky’s Edge

National Theatre – Olivier

Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer

Matt Cole

Disney’s Newsies

Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre

White Light Award for Best Lighting Design

Jessica Hung Han Yun

RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro

Barbican Theatre

d&b audiotechnik Award for Best Sound Design

Tony Gayle

RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro

Barbican Theatre

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical

Beverley Knight

Sylvia

The Old Vic

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical

Zubin Varla

Tammy Faye

Almeida Theatre

Best Actor in a Musical

Arthur Darvill

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!

Young Vic

Best Actress in a Musical

Katie Brayben

Tammy Faye

Almeida Theatre

Mastercard Best New Musical

Standing At The Sky’s Edge

National Theatre – Olivier

The Olivier Awards & Society of London Theatre (SOLT)

Established in 1976 and run by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT), the Olivier Awards celebrate the world-class status of London theatre, and are regarded as Britain’s most prestigious stage honours.

Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is a not-for-profit organization which represents approximately 230 London-based producers, theatre owners and managers, including all the major subsidized theatrical organizations in London. SOLT runs the Olivier Awards, West End LIVE, TKTS, Theatre Tokens, Kids Week, the New Year Sale and Official London Theatre.

Looking beyond the announcement to the wider work of London’s theatre sector, the nominations could not have come at a more crucial time. Ahead of the Spring Budget in Westminster, the Society of London Theatre are leading the call for the government to maintain the higher rate of theatre tax relief, which has galvanized the world-beating productions and performances nominated today by providing the financial environment for increased investment in a challenging climate.

 Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all. Follow us on Twitter: @MastercardUK

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