Prima Facie has upended the West End and Broadway, with a powerful narrative that leaves audiences thinking about its themes well after watching them. It follows Tessa Ensler, a successful criminal defence barrister who finds herself on the other side of the witness stand. As she navigates this different perspective towards the legal system, the storyline exposes the flaws, lack of humanity, and injustice that plague the process.
Written by Suzie Miller and directed by Kate Champion, the play returns home to Sydney this July after travelling through Western Australia, finding a home at Carriageworks. As a one-person show, rising Australian actor, Sof Forrest, will lead audiences through Tessa’s story from start to finish, as well as assuming the roles of every other character involved. I had the pleasure of sitting down with them to discuss all the details of this immense production.
Kaela Goldsmith: This play has been staged on the West End and Broadway. Returning to Australia, how do you feel this iteration evolves or adds to the narrative?
Sof Forrest: I actually haven’t seen Jodie Comer’s West-End production, nor Sheridan Harbridge’s interpretation, to avoid comparing myself to them, which has actually been incredible.
However, we try to make the play true to Australia. In Perth, we shifted some elements to be site-specific and accurate — for example, judges don’t typically wear horse wigs in WA so we removed them, but we’ll be bringing them back for Sydney.There are also some visual elements that give our production an expansive call to action. In our previous theatre, we had a fly tower, and were able to fly things in and out of the stage during the play. Carriageworks boasts a giant warehouse space without a fly tower, so we’re reshifting the set to speak to the architecture.
Goldsmith: In previous interviews, you’ve mentioned how challenging this one-person play has been. Could you pinpoint one particular challenge that has really pushed you to grow not only as a performer, but also as a human.
Forrest: I’ve never had a role this large. I’ve played some really strong characters before, but they’ve always been in an ensemble piece, so holding a larger piece of the story has been an interesting challenge. A one-person show is comparatively a total mindfuck, as you’re essentially playing with characters who aren’t physically there. In saying that, the more that I’ve been able to play with this role, the more the world has begun to come alive in my headspace, and the more joyful it’s been to become immersed in it. I’m constantly finding new details within it.
There’s also so much vocal and physical endurance required for this role and I’ve had to work with my vocal coach, Jean Goodwin, to practice all the different shifts within the play. I never knew what I was capable of as an actor before this show, but since having the chance, it’s been immensely expansive.
Goldsmith: Storytelling has always been an incredibly powerful way of influencing social discourse around important issues, but we’re beginning to see more and more the ways in which arts and entertainment can affect tangible change; for example, through the show Adolescence, and also through this play which influenced a senior British judge to revise the instructions given to juries in rape cases after watching it). What aspects of Prima Facie do you think sink deepest in the minds of audiences, so much so that they leave still thinking about it?
Forrest: I think the portrayal of sexual assault, and the importance of consent are some of the most powerful themes in this play. One story from our previous season really stuck with me. I ran into a work colleague and acquaintance who had seen Prima Facie on the West End. After watching it, she didn’t really feel like what had been depicted was rape, and felt that it was a blurred line. But when she watched our production, she couldn’t believe that’s what she had thought. She wasn’t sure whether it was social conditioning that had made her initially see the story in that way, but regardless, after watching our production, she could see that it was so clearly rape, and was able to reframe her conversations moving forward.
My brother even told me that after watching the play, it was so wild to see all his friends at the pub talking about consent and how to approach [it]. This highlighted the power of this play in sparking conversations. I really want audiences to not walk away from this play not knowing what to do. I want them to understand how these everyday conversations can have an enormous difference in shifting the toxic landscape.
Goldsmith: What changes do you personally believe could be made to our justice system that would better support individuals like Tessa?
Forrest: First and foremost, gendered violence is not focused enough by our government. It was not a major point in this election and it should’ve been.
There needs to be more support for frontline workers, better empathy training for police to prevent re-traumatising victims, and better training in conducting rape kits and mental health support.
It’s also incredibly important that conversations surrounding active and affirmative consent are had. We need to teach all generations — not just younger generations. By seeking affirmative consent, we can also encourage deeper intimacy and a stronger connection between people.
It’s easy to feel slightly hopeless when we see increasing statistics online, or hear about news stories surrounding these issues, but something poignant I was told by my sister is that “action is the cure to despair”. I reached out to all [the] schools in Perth, inviting them to bring senior leadership to watch Prima Facie. I even personally offered to cover the cost for students who couldn’t afford to see it — but not one of the schools replied.
That’s why I really want to encourage University of Sydney students to attend — to see this play, and to walk away with a better understanding of victims, of the justice system, and how to navigate conversations surrounding consent moving forward.
Prima Facie will be on at Carriageworks from the 2nd -12th of July.
