Prima Facie had a triumphant run in 2019 at Sydney’s Griffin Theatre and carried all before it at the 2020 Australian Writers’ Guild awards, where it won the three top prizes. “I do believe in the concept of innocent until proved guilty, but at the same time I don’t think the adversarial criminal system is a forum fit for purpose when it comes to sexual assault.”Īs it was, her dramatic critique landed at just the right moment, in the wake of a global turbocharging of the #MeToo movement. Cross-examination is intended to undermine the memory and to capitalise on the stereotypes that exist around rape culture and myths.” “I do believe in the concept of innocent until proved guilty, but at the same time I don’t think the adversarial criminal system is a forum fit for purpose when it comes to sexual assault. “I thought that as a former criminal defence lawyer, I would be criticised for questioning some of the principles of the justice system,” says the 58-year-old, who swapped the law for full-time playwriting in 2010. She knew she was prodding the sleeping lion of judicial process when she wrote it. At the heart of her drama is a challenge: how can the court system better serve victims of sexual assault, so often the losers in courtroom battles of “he said/she said”, vexed by the thorny question of consent. Miller’s story of a barrister adept at defending men accused of sexual assault who finds herself a victim of the same crime has resonated in British legal circles even before it opens. I’m wearing my jeans, Justin’s in a beanie, but they are so nice to us and so interested in the play, and they’ve all bought their tickets.” “We rock up at the Old Bailey,” says Miller, “to find ourselves at a formal lunch with silver service and a room full of silks and judges. When I call Miller to set up our interview, she’s just back from a visit to London’s central criminal court, along with the play’s director, Justin Martin, where she was due to talk to a QC about script changes that might be needed for a British audience. Posters depicting the face of Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer, making her stage debut in this one-woman show, are already stamped “Sold Out”. It is mid-March in England, spring is in the air and Australian lawyer turned writer Suzie Miller has arrived in London to begin rehearsals for her much-garlanded play, Prima Facie, due to open at the 800-seat Harold Pinter theatre for previews next week, ahead of an April 27 premiere.
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