Sydney playwright’s legal drama Prima Facie took on a global life of its own

Lawyer turned playwright Suzie Miller says her one-woman play, Prima Facie, is in such big demand internationally “it’s actually got its own life’’.

Australian playwright and ex-lawyer Suzie Miller. Miller's play about sexual assault and the law, Prima Facie, is going global through the National Theatre of London's NT Live season. Picture: John. Feder

Lawyer turned playwright Suzie Miller says her one-woman play, Prima Facie, is in such big demand internationally that “I can’t keep up with it, to be honest – it’s actually got its own life’’.

The Australian dramatist said she was living the “playwright’s dream” as the “astonishing”, Emmy Award-winning actor Jodie Comer recently wowed critics in Prima Facie in London’s West End, and stars in a National Theatre Live filmed version of the play that will this month screen in 3000 cinemas worldwide.

Killing Eve star Comer will also reprise her role in Miller’s AWGIE-Award winning play on Broadway in 2023. “You sort of live in hope of that all your life,’’ the dramatist said. Her play, an indictment of the justice system’s treatment of sexual assault victims, is to be given new productions in Japan, Italy, Germany, Australia and other countries next year and she is adapting it for the big screen.

Jodie Comer in the filmed version of the Suzie Miller play, Prima Facie. The production is by the National Theatre, London. Picture: Helen Murray

Yet in an interview published in today’s Review, Miller revealed that her hit play – first staged by Sydney’s Griffin Theatre in 2019 – was initially rejected by notable Australian theatre companies.

“I did get knock-backs, yeah, I did,’’ she said.

The Sydney writer also revealed that she based herself part-time in London from 2010 partly because there was then so little demand for “women’s stories” from Australian theatre bosses.

“I’d see every (Australian) program and there’d be maybe one show (by a woman),’’ she said. “And I’d say “Why?’ because I’d come from the law where there was more parity … It was taste. It was the taste of artistic directors who weren’t really interested in women’s stories.’’

When Sydney’s Belvoir Theatre announced its 2010 season – which featured just one female director and one female playwright across seven mainstage productions – there was a furious backlash.

At that time, local female writers and directors were vastly under-represented at many Australian companies, leading to accusations the local theatre was “a boys’ club”.

The situation has since dramatically improved for women and writers from ethnic minorities and Miller said “there are a lot of men who are feeling it’s hard for them now. It’s interesting because you didn’t even know that half of the competition was out of the game 10 years ago’’.

Jodie Comer to star in Broadway and film versions of searing #MeToo play Prima Facie

Miller said that Prima Facie, about a gung-ho defence lawyer whose belief in the justice system is shattered after she is raped, had “hit a zeitgeist” in the #MeToo era. “It’s the Jodie Comer factor as well. She is a megastar and she’s got a huge fan base,’’ she said.

In 2010, Miller and her family moved to London so she could take up a script development offer from Britain’s National Theatre, and from July 23, the National – through its NT Live program – will broadcast Comer’s West End performance in the Australian’s play to cinemas here and around the world.