Prima Facie

Suzie Miller's gripping legal drama became a sensation in London in 2022 and won the "Laurence Olivier Award" for best new play in 2023! This is the feminist work of our time, addressing the #MeToo debate and sexual violence against women.

The legal term "Prima Facie" means "apparent evidence", "subject to rebuttal", "on the face of it". At the heart of the play is Tessa Ensler, a successful criminal defence lawyer who specializes in defending men accused of sexual harassment or assault. Yet in cross-examination, it is usually the women who are questioned, often re-traumatized by the criminal proceedings. Another problem with criminal prosecution is that crimes often occur without witnesses. Most rapes actually happen in private - within marriage or existing relationships. Consequently, Tessa as a defence lawyer does not have to prove that the woman consented! The defence need only claim that the man she is defending did not know that consent was absent.

But then something happens that Tessa thought impossible: she herself becomes a victim of rape. Suddenly she faces the question of how to move forward with her life. She becomes a witness for the prosecution and from that moment on experiences the proceedings in the courtroom from the other side.

Author Suzie Miller herself worked as a lawyer and knows the problems of prosecuting sexual violence intimately. Her highly acclaimed drama is a feminist manifesto in which a woman raises her voice against a legal system that protects perpetrators.

On 29 January 2024, Suzie Miller's drama "Prima Facie" also comes to the German book market as a novel. Suzie Miller can be seen live, among other places, at Lit.cologne 2024.

Watch this timely play on selected dates at our special venue, the Theaterhaus.