From an elite lawyer who masterfully used the rules of the law to win case after case, to standing on the other side of the scales of justice as a sexual assault survivor, the protagonist Tessa in "Prima Facie" endures 782 days of being shattered and rebuilt, finally hearing her own voice.
The Chinese-language production of the play "Prima Facie", starring Chen Haoyu, has concluded its current tour in Suzhou. Adapted from Australian playwright Suzie Miller's Olivier Award-winning work, the play premiered in Sydney in 2019 and came to the Chinese stage in 2023. After three years of refinement through performance, the Chinese version has evolved beyond a simple courtroom drama into a powerful theatrical dialogue that confronts trauma and fosters shared empathy.
A "boomerang" narrative with an undercurrent of tenderness
Director Zhou Ke was immediately drawn to the script's content and its unique structure. "Prima Facie" tells the story of Tessa, a brilliant lawyer at the top of her game, adept at navigating the legal system to secure victory after victory. When a sudden sexual assault places her on the opposite side of the courtroom, her once-solid beliefs are completely shattered. After a long and arduous struggle, Tessa ultimately chooses to testify in court, presenting her own "prima facie" case.
Faced with this "boomerang" narrative, where the protagonist's own legal tactics are turned against her, Zhou's primary task was to immerse the audience and the actress herself in the story's core. This was achieved through a careful orchestration of stage direction, sound, lighting, set design, and the actor's physicality.
Zhou materializes Tessa's inner turmoil in the set design: a long table, once whole, is fractured into three pieces. "The shattering of the table serves the narrative, but it also symbolizes the character's internal fragmentation," she explains. In the second half, the actress reassembles these pieces by hand, a move that is both a practical staging requirement and a powerful metaphor for Tessa's journey to rebuild herself and reclaim her voice after trauma.
Beneath its heavy themes, the script is woven with soft, tender details. A pink polyester blouse her mother sends feels out of place in Tessa's world of high-end silk shirts. Yet, when Tessa wears it, she feels her mother's constant, supportive presence. The play features more than just Tessa; her mother and other female characters provide a gentle strength that supports her through her darkest moments.
Making trauma discussable
For many in Asian cultures, discussing topics related to sexuality is often fraught with a deep-seated sense of shame. This leads many who experience such trauma to suffer in silence, turning inward and collapsing under the weight. "Prima Facie", however, brings this very issue onto the stage and into the courtroom. Zhou believes that only by speaking out loud, by making it a subject of collective attention and thought, can audiences realize: "This is something we can talk about, something we can face. We should not punish ourselves for the mistakes of others."
In the story, Tessa gives voice to a collective pain long hidden beneath the surface, allowing more people to see and hear it and, in turn, to find distance from their own individual trauma. The theatre has drawn large numbers of female audience members, some of whom may have had experiences similar to Tessa's, trapped in a cycle of self-blame and stress when justice was delayed. Zhou hopes they too can find redemption and release, just as Tessa does.
"Playwrights of every era strive to pose a 'timeless question'," says producer Bian Changzhen. In bringing this play to China, she aimed not just to stage the script but to give local audiences an entry point to understand its themes without being handed a single, standard answer. To this end, the production team sets a different theme for each year's tour, from "Let Courage Happen" to "Let Us All Be Present Together."
"We hope that after watching the play, the audience will reflect more deeply on our social systems, the law, and gender relations. When that reflection truly begins, the meaning of theatre is born," Bian adds.
Chen Haoyu joins, providing lasting energy
As a two-hour one-woman show, "Prima Facie" is a formidable challenge for any actress. The Cantonese version, titled "The Perfect Witness" and starring Deanie Ip, was a box-office sensation. In mainland China, the role of Tessa has been passed from Xin Zhilei to Fan Yilin, and now to Chen Haoyu. For producer Bian, this "feels like a passing of the torch of female strength."
Chen, nicknamed the "Queen of Vitality" by her fans, is described by director Zhou as not only an actress with immense energy but also someone entering her prime. This parallel perfectly matches Tessa's own journey from a young, spirited criminal defence lawyer to a more mature stage of her career.
At the Shenzhen performance, many of Chen's fans travelled from Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and other cities to see the show. Bian notes that Chen's involvement has attracted a younger audience, many of whom were attending a stage play for the first time, hoping that "a seed is planted in their hearts today, one that will sprout at the right moment in the future."
(Reporters: Kelly Yang, Rachel Liu; Camerapeople & Video Editors: Julianne, Rachel Liu; English Editor: Rachel Liu, Darius)
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