This past April, my friend and I saw one of our favorite actresses, Jodie Comer, perform in her one-man play, Prima Facie. We were both so excited to finally see her perform, as we bought the tickets months ago in December, and it was such a great experience that I wanted to write a play review about it.
A little trigger warning before we get into the review: This play discusses sexual assault and the main character experiences this in the play.
This was my first time seeing a play on Broadway! It was super cool getting to see what the inside of a Broadway theatre was like. My friend and I also got some merchandise as well. I ended up buying the play script, a poster, and a tote bag.
This was also my first time seeing a one-woman play. Comer did a wonderful job doing it all by herself, and it was very easy to imagine how the other characters looked even though she was the only character there. Seeing this play makes me want to watch more one-woman plays now.
This play follows Tessa, a barrister (lawyer) in Liverpool, England, and how she gets into an unexpected situation in her newly-found relationship with one of her friends. This unexpected situation (sexual assault) that happens to her leads her to go against the system she’s so deeply entwined in, to try and find justice for her and what she was forced to go through.
This was a deeply emotional play and I found myself crying multiple times while watching this live. Comer was so good at portraying the emotions someone goes through after experiencing sexual assault.
At the end of the play, she doesn’t win the case against the guy who sexually assaulted her, which made the entire play even sadder. It made me think of how many women aren’t believed when they say they are sexually assaulted. Her male counterpart in the play thought she was accusing him of sexual assault because she wanted to ruin his career and life.
I would say that if you aren’t British, or do not know some British words, you may be confused for a bit as to what she is saying sometimes. At first, I had no idea what barrister meant, but I quickly realized what it meant after a few minutes of the play.
Overall, it was an amazing play, and I’m so happy that my friend secured tickets for both of us. Comer is a wonderful actress and I encourage you all to watch more movies and shows with her in them. I will be thinking about this play for a long time after this.