Seven years since its premiere, Prima Facie returns to the stage, with the same actor and director at the helm. Playing limited seasons in Sydney and Melbourne, the Olivier Award-winning play has become a global phenomenon, performed in more than 40 countries and translated into more than 30 languages.

Written by Australian playwright Suzie Miller, Prima Facie draws on her experience working within the legal sector and was inspired by the realities she witnessed firsthand.

The one-woman show stars Sheridan Harbridge as criminal defence barrister Tessa. The law is a game she loves to champion, until she finds herself on the other side of the witness box and discovers that the system she once believed in so passionately has, failed her.  

From the moment she enters the stage, Harbridge is enthralling, creating in Tessa a woman who is both likeable and relatable as she recounts her family life, the beginning of her career and romantic interludes. She pokes fun at herself in that quintessentially Australian tall-poppy way and dances with delightfully awkward moves. The audience laughs with her, never at her.

Harbridge plays not only Tessa but every other character in the play – switching from the elderly judge and her tight-lipped mother to a taxi driver, and even the defendant. Never breaking stride, she distinguishes each role through different accents, vocal inflections and physical mannerisms.

Miller’s script is unmistakably Australian with references to vegemite sandwiches and slang that draw titters from the knowing audience. Directed by Lee Lewis, the show moves at pace, with Tessa’s experience unfolding almost simultaneously from then to now, as she tells and relives her story.

Capturing the shame, guilt and resistance to being seen as a victim, Harbridge delivers a performance with such vulnerable intensity that its emotional toll feels almost palpable. Yet the discomfort of watching is nothing compared to the reality it reflects: one in three women have experienced sexual assault.

Renée Mulder’s minimalist all-black staging puts all the focus on Harbridge, whose only prop is an ergonomic office chair. Trent Suidgeest’s harsh lighting and Paul Charlier’s score of pulsing techno beats — giving way to silence used to equal effect — heighten the dramatic tension while ensuring she remains the production’s focal point.

Prima Facie is not a play that is passively watched; it is a work that has changed lives and contributed to reforms within the UK justice system. Judicial directions have been rewritten, mandatory judicial training introduced and recordings of the performance are distributed to newly appointed judges as compulsory viewing.

Prima Facie continues to resonate. It is theatre that does more than entertain; it encourages discussion about consent, the legal system, the inequity of justice for women. Challenging, confronting and deeply moving, it delivers a powerful and, sadly, still necessary message.

5 stars

Presented by Griffin Theatre Prima Facie is playing at Roslyn Packer Theatre in Walsh Bay Sydney until 21 June 2026.

Run Time: 90 minutes (no interval)

For tickets visit Sydney Theatre Company