WHAT'S ON

Tessa Ensler loves her job. She’s worked her way up from a working-class background to being a top criminal defense barrister at the top of her game – prosecuting, cross-examining and winning in the courtroom with her quick wit and intelligence. Fighting to defend those pleading not guilty – including securing freedom for men accused of rape and sexual assault. Innocent until proven guilty is, after all, the bedrock of human rights.

An unexpected event however forces Tessa to confront the very system she has spent her life believing and working within – a system where the lines of patriarchal power and burden of proof are not set up to accommodate the lived experience of sexual assault survivors.

Acclaimed Oliver and Tony award-winning play, Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie is an unforgettable story and one-woman tour de force that has the power to question the structure of the legal system and takes us to the heart of where emotion and experience conflict within the system as we know it.

Directed by NZ acting royalty Michael Hurst and performed by Cassandra Woodhouse, NZ Theatre Company is honoured to bring Prima Facie to the NZ stage and continue the call to action that this story is demanding worldwide.