PRIMA FACIE Previews

Fresh off a Best New Play win at the Olivier Awards, Prima Facie begins Broadway previews tomorrow night (April 11) at the John Golden Theatre, before an April 23 opening. The one-person play — starring Jodie Comer, written by Suzie Miller, and directed by Justin Martin — will run for a limited engagement through June 18.

“Tessa is a thoroughbred. A young, brilliant barrister who loves to win. She has worked her way up from working class origins to be on top of her game; defending; cross examining and lighting up the shadows of doubt in any case. An unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof, and morals diverge.”

Who’s going?

I'm going to the first Preview Tuesday. Cannot wait! Will report back.

From the invited dress last night, we saw the play from mezzanine and the view was great! I won't comment on the production itself since it wasn't an official preview.

In terms of logistics, it started a few mins after 8pm and I was out the door by 9:50pm (roughly 100-105 mins). No intermission. On their site it states no late seating (we weren't late so cannot comment if this is strictly enforced or not.) I'm glad there's no intermission since I was able to get into the zone and focus on her story throughout. Time went by quickly for me and never checked my watch.

Note for the Golden all the restrooms are downstairs below the orchestra level. No accessible restroom inside the theater (they escort you next door to the Schoenfeld theater box office lobby which has a restroom.) On the site it also states there's no readmittance to the auditorium once the play has started so try to go to restroom before play starts!

Really excited for those who'll see this play this evening!

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Updated On: 4/11/23 at 10:49 AM

Any thoughts from tonight?

well it's a good thing i'm not a lawyer because i just learned how to pronounce the title of this play and BOY was I wrong.

I thought it was a solid show. Many of the London reviews gave it 4 out of 5, and I'd agree.

Essentially, it's 2 hours of Jodie Comer reciting everything at high speed. Physically acting out as her character is reciting what has happened. (Think Shakespeare... where acting occurs on the line) Just the feat of her memorizing everything is impressive.

Having said that, I'm not sure if I was truly captivated by Jodie's performance. Sure, a one-man/woman play by default requires a lot of vanity to produce; but this seemed like too much of "Look at what I can do!" Perhaps the style of the play didn't click with me.

Ultimately, I'll just say that it's worth seeing. I was wow-ed by Jodie Comer, but not in a "I wanna give her the Tony because she gave a terrific, honest performance" way.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "well it's a good thing i'm not a lawyer because i just learned how to pronounce the title of this play and BOY was I wrong."

Criminal defense attorney here, we pronounce this differently in the states than in the UK. Most people that I know here say "fay-shuh," and they say fay-see or fay-shee. It catches me off guard every time. Looking forward to seeing this next month, though. I'm generally skeptical of legal plays but the pedigree of this seems phenomenal so it was a must add for my next NYC trip.

BMcGregor said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "well it's a good thing i'm not a lawyer because i just learned how to pronounce the title of this play and BOY was I wrong."

Criminal defense attorney here, we pronounce this differently in the states than in the UK. Most people that I know here say "fay-shuh," and they say fay-see or fay-shee. It catches me off guard every time."

Well I was saying it with an overly Italian accent...... "Prima" as in Louie Prima, "Facie" rhyming with "Apache."

RubyLee said: "We were in rear mezz and I really don't think there is a bad seat in that theater."

For sightlines, that is probably true! But as a heads up for anyone who is on the larger side, I'd highly recommend staying away from the far sides of the orchestra in this theater. I got seats via Audience Rewards to see Hangmen - Row J, Seats 6 & 8 - and the seats were so narrow it was painful, even with no one next to us. We ended up moving several rows back to an unoccupied side orchestra aisle (that performance did not sell well), and the seat width there was fine. For Topdog/Underdog, I sat on the aisle of the center orchestra in a different row and that was fine, too. So I don't know if my issue is with certain rows or specific seats or what, but not something I'd want to encounter in a sold out show with nowhere to move.

Wick3 said: "I think Jodie Comer will at least be nominated for best leading Actress in a Play. I'm predicting others nominated in her category will be Jessica Chastain (Doll's House), Rachel Brosnahan (Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window), and Audra McDonald (Ohio State Murders)."

I have no doubt Jodie will be nominated. I think there will be a group of people who are completely enthralled by what Jodie does on stage and will vote for her.

If I were a voter, however, she wouldn't be my top pick. A bit gimmicky performance style, if such a thing exists. Even though What the Constitution Means to Me (from a couple of years ago) was essentially a TedTalk, I thought Heidi Schrenk gave a more earnest performance that was quite moving to me.

Updated On: 4/12/23 at 06:59 PM

Mr. 'Solid' can have his say, but I was there last night as well and thought Comer gave one of the greatest performances I've seen in 50+ years of theatergoing, including having seen Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Glenda Jackson, Coleen Dewhurst, Julie Harris and Jessica Tandy. Her performance is every bit as good as advance word has said. I think it's a very strong play as well, in the great tradition of stage courtroom dramas, and very accessible but with urgency and purpose that makes it of this moment. I wouldn't miss it.