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Suzie Miller's legal thriller “Prima Facie” is a heartbreaking, nuanced look at the system's flaws when protecting sexual assault and rape survivors, through the eyes of a star defense attorney.
Tessa Ensler loves the law. The game of wit required to succeed as a barrister feeds her unlike anything else, and she's damn good at it. A scrappy girl who landed at Cambridge on full scholarship, she has worked tirelessly to make a name for herself in London's elite chambers. Her masterful line of questioning in the courtroom has netted Tessa win after win, including freeing men accused of rape and sexual assault. As controversial as it is, this is her job—it's just about the facts and who can game the system.
Working late one night, Tessa falls into a casual relationship with a coworker, also an attorney, who comes from an elite, wealthy family. This lighthearted affair serves as a break from the long hours Tessa works, and she begins to wonder if perhaps there is a future for the two of them.
But one evening after drinking, they both end up in her bed, and after a brief but fitful sleep, Tessa gets sick in the bathroom. That's when she begins to feel hands on her back. She's ill and not entirely aware of what's happening, but suddenly she finds herself in a position countless women have. And she's faced with a gut-wrenching, career-changing decision: does she take the stand to testify about her rape, with the full awareness that the system has not been built to protect the victim? Does she become a witness in her own courtroom?
Tessa Ensler loves the law. The game of wit required to succeed as a barrister feeds her unlike anything else, and she's damn good at it. A scrappy girl who landed at Cambridge on full scholarship, she has worked tirelessly to make a name for herself in London's elite chambers. Her masterful line of questioning in the courtroom has netted Tessa win after win, including freeing men accused of rape and sexual assault. As controversial as it is, this is her job—it's just about the facts and who can game the system.
Working late one night, Tessa falls into a casual relationship with a coworker, also an attorney, who comes from an elite, wealthy family. This lighthearted affair serves as a break from the long hours Tessa works, and she begins to wonder if perhaps there is a future for the two of them.
But one evening after drinking, they both end up in her bed, and after a brief but fitful sleep, Tessa gets sick in the bathroom. That's when she begins to feel hands on her back. She's ill and not entirely aware of what's happening, but suddenly she finds herself in a position countless women have. And she's faced with a gut-wrenching, career-changing decision: does she take the stand to testify about her rape, with the full awareness that the system has not been built to protect the victim? Does she become a witness in her own courtroom?
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Reviews
Tony Award-winning actor Jodie Comer performs this adaptation of Miller's one-woman play with empathy and a thoughtfully calculated pace. Barrister Tessa Ensler is a top criminal defense attorney. Comer's delivery of Tessa's earnest belief in the judicial system lulls the listener into a false sense of security as she clocks win after win through her razor-sharp questioning. But when a co-worker
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