Prima facie

"An unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge". This is what the blurb in the Pontio flyer (where it would be live-streamed) said about Prima Facie, or rather, about the crux. I would claim that at first sight (see what I did here?), this looks like a fairly cerebral play. Not the sort of art that clobbers you around the head like there's no tomorrow. It looked interesting, and both Kates were interested too.

I had never seen Jodie Comer do anything; that is what you get if you don't watch any type of television. But I know she has quite a good reputation. And the trailer looked interesting. 

On the actual day, one of the Kates was not feeling very well, so it was only the two of us going. We took our seats quite late. And it was very busy! This was clearly a popular event. There was an introduction by Emily Maitlis, and an extract from a discussion Maitlis had had with the writer of the book this was based on, a legal professional, a DCI, and Jodie Comer. There was also a small performance by Self Esteem, who had composed the music for the play. I only became aware of her existence during Glastonbury, because I heard her on the radio, but she made quite an impression and I was glad she was involved in this. And then it started.

It starts with Jodie Comer talking you through a case she has won; not what it was actually about, but how you lull a witness into a false sense of security, and then expose some inconsistency or other. She explains about the taxi rank principle, and about legal truth versus other types of truth. She mentions you should never trust your gut; only your legal mind. She barely draws a breath! I thought it was exhausting to even watch.

If you still want to watch this, then stop here; spoiler alert.

She also explains about her working class scouse background, and the feeling of not really fitting in in the legal profession. And she talks about the "work hard party hard" mentality at her law firm. And mentions drinks and dancing and flirting after work. And a fling with a colleague that could be going places. 

And then it turns dark. She gets drunk with the fling, takes him home, and you see it coming; he rapes her. And then she panics. She knows exactly what happens with victims of sexual assault in a court room. She takes them apart herself on a regular basis! So she knows how bad this looks. She has been seen flirting with him, she took him home, she is drunk, etc. She basically just flees her own apartment and after some roaming of the streets, she decides to go to the police to report the sexual assault. And keeps thinking of things that weaken her case. She had a shower, erasing evidence! The bloke is in her bed! And she already gets the nasty questions you get when you are in a situation like that. And she has to decide whether she wants to press charges (if that is the appropriate phrase here). It is a big decision! And she knows that her assailant is both a colleague and a barrister. Pretty much the worst he could be. But she goes for it. And she also has the unpleasant realisation that it is the legal system that will now decide whether there is a case to answer. It is entirely out of her hands whether the Crown Prosecution Service will take on the case. But we find out they do.

The play then fast forwards some 2 1/2 years. It takes forever for a case like this to go to court! And then we find her going to court. And now she feels unprotected without her wing and gown and all the paraphernalia. And when she steps in, she realises that pretty much everybody is male. The judge, the barrister doing the defence, et cetera. The jury has only four females, but she knows that females can easily turn against other females as well. 

There was one fragment I thought was especially touching. Her rough, no-nonsense mother is always there for her when she needs her. And she is there in court as well. And whether it was in this scene or an earlier one, but that some point Comer says she sees a look in her mother's eyes that tells her she has been violated in some way as well. And she says she will never ask. It looks pale as I narrate it, but in the play I thought it was powerful. 

In court, you can tell she is in an agitated state. Now she is struggling to play the game she played so well in the first scene. She realises she is vulnerable, and is easily fooled by the barrister seeming to show kindness and sympathy. 

In the actual scene where she is raped, the man has his hand over her face and she struggles to breathe. But now the defence is subjecting her to really detailed interrogation. She had just vomited, right? She must have had awful breath. And she had had consensual sex with the man before. Where were her legs? Where were her arms? How could he AND control her arms, AND have his hand over her face? Did she scream? Did she push him away? Is it possible she was just holding her own hand over her mouth in order to protect him from her awful breath? And is she just blaming him? Weren't they colleagues, and therefore rivals? Doesn't she benefit from ruining his career? Et cetera.

He gets acquitted. But she remains on stage, suddenly with the fourth wall having come down. And she pleads for a change in the legal system. It does not protect victims of sexual assault. And everyone who is paying attention knows it! The government has even publicly apologised for it. So there is a strong case for this, and I support it. And who knows; maybe this play might play a tiny role in this. I think the people who pay to see this are the ones already know how broken the system is. But if no one writes a book about these things, and performs a play about it, and talks about it afterwards, nothing will ever happen!

I came out of the cinema rather battered. As I have explained earlier on, I did not expect it to be so full on. I had expected the slightly more tangential approach. Not actually be in the action for most of the play! But it was okay. Fortunately, Kate thought so too. Not an easy evening, but well worth it. And Jodie Comer was very impressive. But from here, the fight against society not taking sexual assault seriously will just go on. And on…