Prima Facie

Tessa is a criminal attorney. And she is good at it. Good at defending men who are charged with sexual assaults. She is more interested in finding out the legal truth than in morality: It’s her job to spring these accused men. In her profession, it’s word against word. Ever since she was a law student, Tessa felt like she had to prove herself: One in three students will not graduate, the emerging solicitors were told when they began their studies. In spite of her less privileged background, Tessa managed to struggle through and she is proud of her tenacity. She rarely lets anyone look behind her façade. But then, there is Julian, her co-worker. And a night spent with him after which Tessa finds herself on the other side of the courtroom. She doesn’t want to be a victim – but this time the law, whose loopholes she has used so many times before, is apparently not on her side. Instead, her credibility is questioned until she begins to doubt her own perception of the events.
Tessa is subjected to cross-questioning and begins to question everything. How can she break out of a system where women’s experiences still remain unheard? A system where violence against women is an everyday occurrence and where the MeToo-movement has led to a response of defensiveness from the established patriarchal powers? This trial, her own trial, changes Tessa’s view of jurisdiction and the relationship between the perpetrators of violence and those who suffer it. Nothing will ever be as it was.
Suzie Miller’s monologue, which was a great success in London’s West End, is a topical and merciless analysis of the conflict between integrity, truth and the law. Prima Facie will be director Seline Seidler’s debut at Ballhof Eins.