Prima Facie

Prima Facie is a contemporary one-woman play by Australian playwright Suzie Miller, which quickly took the world’s stages by storm. The original premiered in 2019 at Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney (starring – Sheridan Harbridge, dir. Lee Lewis), after which it had a high-profile West End season in 2022 at the Harold Pinter Theatre with Jodie Comer and later transferred to Broadway (John Golden Theatre, 2023). Comer won the most prestigious awards for an actress in London and New York, and the production was also filmed by National Theatre Live for cinema screenings.

The Bulgarian version is a solo show by Elena Telbis – the premiere performances were at the end of March 2024 in „Toplocentrala“, and a little later the title entered the programs of leading festivals. The production quickly attracted audiences and critical attention for its precise handling of the theme of consent and the way legal language collides with personal memory. Scenography and costumes: Vanina Tsandeva. Production support: „Baza H“ and Artvent. In 2024, „Prima Facie“ with Elena Telbis won the „Askeer“ for solo performance.

What makes the play different

• One person – many roles: the heroine Tessa Ensler narrates and „translates“ the courtroom, shifting registers and viewpoints in real time.
• The rhythm of a courtroom summation: the text is structured as an argument – fact, counterargument, doubt – which keeps the tension without unnecessary effects.
• Very concrete questions about proving what is „at first glance“ obvious – where the system breaks, what „credibility“ is, and who bears the burden.

The production here runs about 90 minutes without an intermission and has a recommended age of 16+. If the subject of law and the limits of justice is important to you, this is a performance that continues to work even after the applause – with conversations that inevitably remain.

Looking for more powerful contemporary titles on the bill? See also the ironic look at the media in Code Yellow, as well as the acting virtuosity in the chamber drama All This Is Her. For lighter tones on a Saturday evening outing, opt for comedy hits like The Idiot Always Rings Three Times or Desperate Husbands 2: Discarded.

Note: themes include sexual violence and courtroom interrogations.