Prima Facie - Harold Pinter / Cinema Broadcast

Saw this Tuesday night, and concur that Jodie Comer gives a distinctively great stage performance, combining laser sharp comic timing, intelligent authoritative emphasis, and a bottomless well of feeling. An unmissable tour-de-force stage debut. The play itself is brilliantly, effectively emotive, albeit manipulative.

Some spoilers follow. . .

The night I went, a panel of 6 (all female) experts came out after the show to discuss the play, including defence and prosecution barristers, police and campaigners. Their response to the difficulties, of achieving justice in rape cases, was sophisticated and revealing:-

(1) A policewoman pointed out that to gain a conviction, the police need to zoom out, from the he-said she-said of it all, to hone in on the overall behaviour of the accused (anybody else they discussed the case with, anybody else they interacted with, etc);

(2) A defense barrister mooted a change in the law that requires men (she pointed out that "rape" defendants are always men because the rape statute requires a "penis") to verbally check that their prospective partner consents before proceeding, and not just to assume consent is given from non-verbal cues;

(3) A prosecution barrister pointed out that judges already are explicitly dispelling "rape myths" (eg victims are asking for it if they dress a certain way; eg your regular sex partner can't rape you), and that more can be done to dispel such myths.

Superb thought-provoking panel, but in my estimation, none of it would alter the huge hurdle our rape-crime-savvy criminal barrister protagonist faces in this case. Although her background, knowing rape law inside and out, gives her an advantage over less educated victims, it is clear that, whether or not she ultimately succeeds, the hurdle she faces getting justice is horrifically high.

Because in this play, the "problem" is the "presumption of innocence" itself, the idea that even if you only believe the defendant twenty percent, you still find them not guilty, because you don't want to be sending innocent people to prison even in twenty percent of cases.

Achieving "justice" in a case where a "credible" defendant claims you consented is almost insurmountable, unless you remove the presumption of innocence itself, in which case you will be consigning to prison a slew of innocent, but inarticulate and impoverished men, who simply can't afford a lawyer as good as the protagonist of this play.

Although the set-up of the play is not programmed for subtle intellectual engagement, it is emotionally enthralling, and Comer made me feel EVERYTHING (I laughed and I cried)!

She combined the best of every one woman acting performance I've seen into one show: like Maggie Smith, she has quick turn comic timing that elicits belly laughs; like Patsy Ferran, she delightfully and dazzlingly commits to voices and attitudes; and like Carey Mulligan, she frequently speaks with such intimate conviction and authority that you'd believe anything she says.

These qualities are why the first half of this production is so funny and engaging. It is also why the second half is so moving.

All in all, get a ticket to the screening if you can't get a ticket to the show, and if you can get neither, cross your fingers this gets a TV outing.

A 5 star performance in a 4 star show: 4 and a half stars from me.

Having read the comments on here I was expecting Jodie to be fantastic. Well she exceeded and went beyond that and totally blew me away. What she is doing up on that stage I don’t think I’ve seen anything to compare it to. What a talent she has

I really liked the play, the staging, everything. Totally engrossed from start to finish.

I’ll be gobsmacked if she doesn’t win the Olivier.

Others in this thread have mentioned Broadway, would be a great show for Roundabout or MTC to pick up.

(What follows was a response to a comment about consent, that has vanished.)

It's also completely unrealistic to expect humans to behave like that in a sexually-charged, usually drug/alcohol-fuelled encounter.

When two people are together, the transition from flirtatious looks to full-blown carnal pleasure is a psychological dance. Non-verbal cues are, I would argue, more -- not less -- important than what is said. (From personal experience, I can think of times when I was being told "yes" but the body language said "no". It's important to be aware of the full picture.)

There is also a palpable sexual frisson from not knowing where the dance will lead, how far you each want to go. Stopping to discuss rules and parameters and strategy would be a mood-killer.

I would hate to be a youngster today having to deal with all of this new consent stipulation. Is there any evidence it is reducing the incidence of rape?

I've had the very good fortune of seeing this twice now. Was in the dress circle the first time and loved it, and was front row of the stalls the second time round and loved it even more. Jodie Comer's simply mindblowing, isn't she? A real generational talent. Had never sat front row before but was really taken aback by how immersed in her performance I was the second time round. It was probably the most powerful experience I've ever had in the theatre and I don't think I'll ever forget it.

Have booked to see the cinema screening in July and I'm looking forward to that. I've not seen many one-(wo)man shows before but a lot of the power and energy from the performance seemed to stem from her connection with the audience. Not just the powerful final monologue but a lot of the humourous lines from the first half too. Will be interesting to see how well that translates on screen. Does anyone know if it's being filmed in front of a live audience? Or are they doing a special recording without anybody in?

Also saw that they're doing an extra matinee this week featuring Jodie's understudy. I'd have loved to see it to see it as I'm really curious about how much would change with a different actor - but unfortunately 3pm on a Tuesday's not great as far as my work schedule is concerned! Would be keen to hear what other people think, though.

Why? Did she fall?

<ah bum tush>

Good to hear. Understudies going in for a one-person show often sounds like the most daunting thing to me, so I'm always curious. 

Would suggest another route to try for a ticket would be Twickets - occasionally they pop up on there.
Very legit site and you're only able to sell for face value, but I expect they go quickly on there too so worth setting up an alert (but you'll have to be quick once you get it!)

If you search on twitter you can see that some have popped up this week.

Good luck!

I saw this tonight and guarantee if I’m lucky to live to 100, I’ll still be raving about her performance.

I saw this tonight and it is certainly one of the best performances on a stage I have ever seen.

For one person to keep the audience enthralled for 100 minutes is no mean feat but Jodie Comer does that and more.

It was an astonishing performance.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.

http://instagram.com/p/CelhaxtI8U9

Broadway transfer confirmed!

I hope they work on the script prior to NY -- critics there are tougher and will be more likely to leap on the nature of it as a harangue, as currently written. This was hinted at in some of the UK reviews but really only addressed properly (and perceptively) by Claire Allfree in Metro

metro.co.uk/2022/04/28/prima-facie-review-jodie-comer-vivacious-in-west-end-debut-16546250/

How about a transfer to a bigger theatre in London?