When the highly acclaimed Prima Facie was first in development, director Lee Lewis said: “I can’t wait for this play to be irrelevant.”
The sharply written one-woman tour de force tells the story of a lawyer who defends perpetrators of sexual assault only to find the tables turned. First staged in 2019, it’s perhaps bittersweet, then, that both the show and Sheridan Harbridge, the actor who originally starred in it, are back for a return season, and Prima Facie’s themes are as topical as they ever were.
Translated into 30 languages, Prima Facie had record-breaking Broadway and West End seasons (starring Jodie Comer), and been staged across the world. Written by Tony award- and Olivier award-winning playwright (and former human rights lawyer) Suzie Miller, filming has also wrapped on a film adaptation starring Cynthia Erivo.
Harbridge says Prima Facie the play helped moved forward the conversation about the legal system’s failure to provide justice for women in rape, sexual assault or harassment cases. It was quoted in parliament, reforms were implemented and education was undertaken. “We then moved into concepts like affirmative consent – that being taught to teenagers is extraordinary. Words like ‘consent’ weren’t even spoken about when I was a teenager.”
If anything, the show’s themes have become even more pertinent, Harbridge says. “Women are more scared than ever to come forward. So many are still suffering the same consequences for speaking to the truth of what happened to them and trying to hold people [to account] … it’s pretty devastating.”
On the eve of the play’s next run, presented by Griffin Theatre Company and Andrew Henry Presents, Harbridge says she feels “quite fragile and vulnerable again, just because of the climate of the world … everyone feels a darkness at the moment”.
Prima Facie is about activism, empowerment and finding your voice, says Harbridge, who has just finished playing Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett in another Australian show, Amplified.
Harbridge, 40, is also the co-writer with Dean Bryant of My Brilliant Career, a reimagining of Miles Franklin’s classic book as a musical, which has also had a return season at the Melbourne Theatre Company this year.
Audience members have told Harbridge that seeing Prima Facie helped them come forward and press charges against perpetrators. The production prepared others, she says, “for what it’s like to have a defence barrister rip you to shreds”.
Despite wishing it were no longer a story that needs to be told, Harbridge is thrilled the play is returning.
So much time and energy goes into crafting such works, she says, yet they often only have a five- or six-week run. “Theatre is the most responsive thing to current events because it’s a quicker machine than film,” she says. “So people are missing that face-to-face response to what’s going on in our world.”
Prima Facie is at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre from May and Roslyn Packer Theatre in Sydney from June.
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