‘Prima Facie’ Review: ‘Killing Eve’ Star Jodie Comer Makes Tour De Force Broadway Debut

kill Eve Star Jodie Comer claims Broadway in her tour de force performance of Big facea sultry indictment of the law and its limits, opening tonight at the Golden Theatre.

Comer plays Tessa, a young working-class woman from Liverpool who, through sheer intelligence and razor-sharp instincts in the courtroom, has become one of London’s most promising lawyers. Her specialty—perhaps, or perhaps not, imposed by the cynical male bosses who run things in a way that Tessa is slow to understand—is defending men accused of sexual assault.

Tessa’s outwardly compassionate, woman-to-woman cross-examination of abuse victims is no less, if not more, effective for her sympathetic undertones. Her penetrating questions and anti-Geiger instinct for finding the hidden bombs that shatter a victim’s story make Tessa an invaluable force in the courtroom.

During the first part of the play, Comer shows us Tessa’s razor skills as she demonstrates cross-examination techniques (and lists their intricacies). We see her tear apart a flashy detective and a nervous assault victim. Tessa may feel a passing sense of guilt for the latter and an irrepressible delight in dismantling the former, but for the most part she sees her job as just that – a necessary cog in the machinery of justice that each player in the drama of ‘ a courtroom drama unfolds. one crucial role in making the system as fair as possible. It’s not a perfect system, she knows, but even if it seems terribly unfair, it’s the best we have.

Tessa’s perception changes and her well-constructed world immediately collapses. She has recently developed a romantic interest in a colleague, a soft-spoken fellow lawyer. After a late night meeting together at the office, the two decide to have a real date, with food and drinks and maybe, or more definitely, a trip back to Tessa’s place for more than a nightcap.

But something starts to go horribly wrong. As they lie in bed, Tessa becomes dizzy and nauseous and soon throws up in her bathroom. As the colleague carries her back to the bed, the man ignores her pleas despite her protests (feeling dirty and sick and suddenly scared), holds her, covers her mouth and brutally and painfully rapes her.

Tessa knows the following, the questions and the assumptions from professional experience. Unlike the women she interviews, Tessa knows every hidden trap the law hides, but not even she can escape them. Comer narrates this legal horror step-by-step, showing audiences how confidence ebbs and panic mounts as the days between the rape and Tessa’s day in court turn into weeks, months and years.

Directed with energy and empathy by Justin Martin (The crown, the legacy the next Stranger Things: The First Shadow), Comer is rarely still – and when she is, there is a purpose behind it – she moves desks and a chair into a series of configurations and uses. (The set was designed by Miriam Buether, as were Tessa’s suits – mostly legal attire, the only exception being a bright pink blouse, poignantly donated by Tessa’s working-class Liverpool mother.)

As the play (100 minutes, no intermission) moves into its second half and Tessa’s long-awaited court date arrives, Big face Rarely do we get hopeful or question our expectations—most of us have prepared too much for that Law and Order: SVUs. The drama is how Tessa deals with the collapse of her ideals and the shattering of her self-deception, and how Comer is able to portray both so vividly and indelibly.

title: Big face
Location: The Golden Theater of Broadway
Director: Justin Martin
Playwright: Suzanne Miller
Form: Jodie Comer
Time: 1 hour 40 minutes (without a break)