Prima Facie

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Has anyone seen this? It was astonishingly good. (It's a National Theatre Live production)

There's nothing particularly new or groundbreaking in the subject matter - but the way it was dealt with and Jodie Cromer herself were both brilliant.

TW - the play is about rape and the way it gets dealt with through the legal system, so it could be a very difficult watch for some people.

I saw it in the west end at the harold pinter in May..... it was just brilliant

I'm jealous! It's great that it's being made available to more of us through NT Live though.

I've never seen anything like it...there was mo interval....she just kept on going...amazing....everyone was on awe leaving the theatre....I booked tickets last October because I had a feeling it was going to be one of those plays that gets talked about for years
..and I could say 'I was there' !😁

. Rickets sold out so quickly I think everybody thought the same...its good thats others have had the chance to see it thru NT live

I've just seen it today. It was amazing. I cannot comprehend how she does that night after night. There was a lot of sniffing/sobbing from the audience at the end.

Absolutely incredible performance from Jodie Comer in a brilliantly written play.

I liked the discussion Emily Maitlis chaired before the live screen. Really gave the context for why the legal process around sexual assault and rape is so unfit for purpose.

I found it really moving and powerful, but I came away with no clue about how things should change. They clearly need to change - not least in the time taken to come to court - but what would be better, and fair, I don’t know.

if the play progresses that discussion, it will have done a real service to women.

I loved it - if that's the right way to express it. I found myself so very down about the message, but found her performance extraordinary. A real talent.

I’m due to watch it. Been hearing amazing things too.

I saw it in Manchester today. It is such a powerful play. Jodie Comer was just astoundingly good, a real tour de force. It's hard to believe she's only 29.

Does anybody think it was interesting that she was from a working-class background and the guy who raped her was from an upper-class background? Her poor mother was in court: she's a cleaner, not familiar with London, carrying an inappropriate bag etc. His dad was in court, he is a QC, all of his friends were in court and they were all upper-class, privately educated etc. I got the impression he wouldn't have raped her if she had been from his class background. He felt entitled to do whatever he wanted because he felt socially superior to her. That's how I interpreted it. He would have thought it laughable that she thought it might develop into a relationship.

I was crying throughout this. It was incredibly moving.

I saw it at the Pinter in London. She was incredible. Such an amazing talent.

@HollowTalk I was thinking about the class aspect too. I think it intensified the awful injustice. She’d had to graft for everything she had achieved, him probably not so much. He had probably been imbued with a sense of entitlement from birth, she definitely had not.

I pictured the Bullingdon club at the end

I don’t think the class dynamic was essential for the message the writer wanted to convey, but I do think the question of (a certain type of) male entitlement is a rich seam.

I saw it yesterday at Vue cinema, fantastic. Unbelievably fantastic acting by Jodie. Very emotional.

Saw it on Friday at cinema, so good they are showing things like this around the country. Astoundingly good, cinema full. Two hundred miles from London, so theatre there prohibitively expensive for all but very special treats. Hope they do more of this.

Saw it on Thursday. It was phenomenal. I couldn't talk afterwards.

Jodie Comer was blistering. I've never seen anything like it - 90 mins of non-stop dialogue, and doing all the set arranging, and constant movement. Amazing.

The discussion beforehand was great and really added to the message of the play.

i saw it at the Harold Pinter…I had a 50 quid ticket and a very good view ( it is a relatively small theatre) …so I don’t think it was prohibitively expensive

I didn’t realise how small the stage and theatre was until the end when they panned out. Agree she was phenomenal.

Just been myself and blown away by Jodie's performance, the production and the play itself. How the hell does Jodie put herself through that so often?! I was exhausted just as an audience member! As an ex-drama student its the sort of play I can imagine being studied for years to come. And I bloody hope it is! Maybe one day, when things are better for sexual violence survivors, as a look back at how shit the justice system once was. That's my dream anyway

I saw it today and was absolutely stunned by her performance and the play itself.

she is an outstanding actor, I’ve never seen a monologue like it.

I also enjoyed the discussion before hand.

The Australian style sexual assault courts, as mentioned by the playwright, where everyone was an expert and there wasn’t a total dominance of men in every role would be a good start.

I’m desperate to watch it. It looks fantastic.

I thought JC's performance was incredible. And I liked how the play shone a light on how the system in which we rightly put our faith (ie innocent until proven guilty) doesn't work for victims of assault or rape who for very good reasons can make unreliable or at least not very coherent witnesses, because trauma affects the ability to tell the story. However I thought it was too pat that she was from such a working class background (realistically, how many 'Tessas' do end up at Cambridge and then as successful barristers?) and that the perpetrator was so stereotypically called Julian, was part of an old boy club etc. While we know from recent political events just how much of a cancer that network of privilege is and how much corruption, lying and obscuring of truth goes on, I though the class war angle was unnecessary. It would have been just as shocking and in fact possibly more illuminating if the victim had been Perdita from Cheltenham Ladies' College! Tessa has known since Day 1 that the system is stacked against her - it might have been more of a statement if Perdita had had the revelation that even wealth and social class can't beat a patriarchal legal system.

But he might not do that to Perdita because he'd know that her own father has a far reach. He knows that Jodi's father, if he is around, does not. Yes it would be just as shocking for Perdita to be raped as Jodi, but we do have to think why is it a man like Julian would not do it to Perdíta?

Working class girls have always got into Cambridge and I think it was right that they showed Jodi as working-class with a mother who only had sympathy and empathy but not influence. When you read about the clubs like the Bullingdon club, you realise that working-class girls are at far greater risk than upper-class girls.

I saw this tonight. It was truly breathtaking. Jodie Comer's performance was remarkable. Everyone should watch it.

Agree

I would be very surprised if Suzie Miller hadn't researched sexual assault and class before writing the play. It's in the public eye that there is an issue with sexual assault being swept under the carpet at Cambridge uni, for example. She will have spoken to people about their experiences, and what she learned will be reflected in the play.

I had to go hunting for this (I read it some time ago), but I found it. This isn't scientific, but suggests that educated, respectable men are less likely to be considered as likely perpetrators of sexual assault, by the very people there to serve justice. theconversation.com/does-a-mans-social-class-have-anything-to-do-with-the-likelihood-hell-commit-sexual-assault-104207

I suspect the 'reverse' of that may also be true - that upper class women are more likely to be believed in the court room.

I think the choices made were very deliberate, and for good reasons. I would suggest it's more likely that someone in the 'old boys club' would rape the working class woman, than they would the daughter of one of their fellow 'old boys club' network. The risk to them personally would be much less.

It was the best performance I have ever seen. And gets the singer Self Esteem out there to a bigger audience. Her live act is superb...watch her Glastonbury set