The PumpHouse: Prima Facie

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 patriachal 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.

Prima Facie was first produced by Griffin Theatre Company in May 2019 at the SBW Stables Theatre followed by the award-winning 2022 West End premiere at the Harold Pinter Theatre which then traveled to the Golden Theatre on Broadway in 2023. Prima Facie is currently being translated and performed all over the world and in 2023 was also released into a book.

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.

“SOMEWHERE. SOMETIME. SOMEHOW.

SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE.”

Content Warning: Prima Facie includes references to sexual assault.

Recommended for audiences aged 15 years and above, parent or guardian advised.

Run Time: 1 hour, 30min with no interval
Strict lockout: no admittance once the performance has started.