Jodie Comer will make her debut in London’s West End next year

The ‘Free Guy’ actress will portray a criminal barrister who specialises in defending rapists, only to be sexually assaulted herself in ‘Prima Facie’, a one-woman show which will open at the Harold Pinter Theatre on 15 April, 2022.

Taking a short break from screen ubiquity, Jodie Comer – ‘Killing Eve’, ‘Help’, ‘Free Guy’, loads more – finally finds time to sneak in her West End debut in 2022. Australian playwright Suzie Miller’s drama ‘Prima Facie’ is a monologue about a brilliant, competitive young working-class barrister whose upwards ascent is suddenly stalled when a colleague rapes her, an event that both mentally shatters her and sets her on a collision course with a hostile legal system. Justin Martin directs a play in which tickets will start on a pay-what-you-can basis for every show.

Lawyer-turned-playwright Suzie Miller said of her production: “Yes, the sex happened, but was it consensual . . . or not? It’s her word against his.”

Suzie – who has lived in both the UK and her native Australia – decided to write a play that explored how laws, largely devised by “a very elite group of men” turned the tables on female victims in assault cases after being inspired by her own legal career.

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“I don’t know of any sexual assault statement that I’ve ever taken, where I could ever be convinced that they were lying…

“Remember, not so long ago it wasn’t illegal to rape your wife.”

But the writer insisted it isn’t just a story for women and she hopes the gritty subject will make people stop and think.

When Suzie first approached the ‘Killing Eve’ actress to take on the lead role of Tessa Ensler, they spoke for over an hour, prompting the writer to switch the play’s setting from Australia to the UK and make the character “a Scouser”, like Jodie herself.

And Director Justin Martin is thrilled to have Jodie on board for the production, which has already been staged Down Under.

He said: “Tessa does things in the play that Jodie really connected with.

“She’s somebody who’s fearless; somebody who feels they’re outside the norm and the centrist nature of London. She’s kept that part of her that’s Liverpool alive. She can do humour, and she can be incredibly moving.”

He and producer James Bierman have already taken Jodie – who last appeared on stage 11 years ago in ‘The Price Of Everything’ in Scarborough – to a play at the Harold Pinter Theatre so she could get a feel for the theatre ahead of the show’s nine-week run, and have other plans to help her prepare.

James said: “We’re going to spend some time in court. And I’m introducing her to two female barristers.”

Tickets for the production go on sale on Friday (01.10.21) and Jodie is supporting their Pay What You Can campaign, which means there will be affordable tickets available for every performance as she felt it was “very important” that people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to see it.

James added: “If you want to pay a pound, and that’s all you’ve got, then that’ll get you in.”

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