Prima Facie (a legal term meaning ‘on the face of it’) by Suzie Miller is a courageous call to action. 

Miller, once a criminal defense lawyer herself, shines a bold spotlight on the archaic way sexual assault victims are questioned and treated in a court of law. 

Tess, the only character physically present in this one woman show, is a “young-blood criminal barrister (defense lawyer in London) addicted to the game of law, bursting with social justice and fighting what she believes is the good fight.”

The play begins with Tess believing in the law, the systems of the law, and the “fairness” of the outcomes based on the letter of the law. 

Tess herself questions sexual assault victims and feels no shame as they twist into confusion and shame on the stand. This is until she herself is the victim of a sexual assault. 

Suddenly she feels and understands the repercussions of unwanted physical advances:

But when a woman has been violated,
It is a corrosive wound,
one that begins with Terry and pain
deep in the body,
it then overtakes the mind, the soul

Miller gives the reader and the audience a chance to be in the shoes of the prosecutor/questioner as well as the victim. She unveils the many games we all play to defend our personal versions of the truth and to safe guard personal freedom.

Ultimately, Miller offers the audience a chance to viscerally desire a change in the system. No system will ever be perfect, but the system needs to be better than it is, it needs to be thoughtfully reconsidered by women. 

In a system imagined by men, implemented by men, and the executed by men until very recently, how could a women’s experience of violation ever accurately be considered. 

Miller precisely and expertly asks us all to be better - to find a better way.