Prima Facie

Venue: Chamber - Despite top grades, A-level diploma and excellent bachelor's degree: Two thirds of all students at Top Law School will not complete their studies. Of those who make it, only half will work as lawyers. And only five of them as lawyers. But Tessa did it. The working child, who fought hard for her place, becomes a successful defense lawyer who wears her horsehair wig with pride. Like all criminal lawyers, Tessa believes in the law, in the system and in the presumption of innocence, which for her is not just an empty phrase, but the foundation of a civilized society. That is why she too defends the defendants, looks for gaps in the indictment and meticulously examines the statements of victims and witnesses. And Tessa is one of the best at her job.

Whether it's drug lawsuits, allegations of corruption or sexual assault: Tessa is concerned with the legal truth and the evidence with which her defendants are declared “innocent” before the law. In cross-examination, sympathy plays no role; everyone must ask the lawyer's sharp questions, including victims of alleged sexual assaults, whose statements are analyzed and dismantled in court. Until the day when something happens that Tessa would never have thought possible: Her colleague, with whom she is having an affair, becomes sexually abusive after a date. As her life collapses before her eyes, Tessa turns from a defense lawyer to an accuser and experiences what is happening in the courtroom from the other side.

“Prima facie” is a legal term that means prima facie evidence in German and means something like “until further notice” or “as long as there is no new evidence.” Can the system that Tessa believed in so much protect her — or does it abandon her in the end?

The award-winning monologue by Australian author Suzie Miller premiered in Sydney in 2019 and has already successfully premiered in London's Westend and recently on Broadway.