How Now Brown Cow presents SA premiere of Olivier Award winning, gripping legal drama Prima Facie
How Now Brown Cow, creators of acclaimed productions such as My Name is Lucy Barton, Expelled and Constellations, presents the South African premiere of Tony and Olivier Award-winning gripping legal drama Prima Facie.
Written by Suzie Miller, this production is directed by esteemed director Neil Coppen (Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater; Animal Farm; Tin Bucket Drum), with powerhouse performer Danica De La Rey Jones (Hunting Jessica Brok; Unseen; For Colored Girls) in the role of Tessa, a brilliant young barrister, who climbs her way up from working class origins to the top of her game.
Prima Facie will be performed at The Baxter Studio from 4 to 29 August, before transferring to the Barney Simon at the Market Theatre from 17 September until 4 October.
Bookings can be made at Webtickets.
Tessa believes in the legal system until a brutal attack turns her world upside down as she navigates the same system she once championed – defending, cross examining and winning. Now put on trial herself, re-traumatized through her cross-examination, she finds herself questioning everything she believed about justice.
Prima Facie is a hard-hitting look at the “patriarchal power of the law” where the burden of proof and existing rules of evidence often work against victims of sexual violence.
Lighting Design for the production is by Tina Le Roux, with Set Design by Patrick Curtis and Sound Design by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder.
The 2022 London production of the show was nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, with wins for Best New Play and Best Actress for Jodie Comer, who subsequently won a Tony Award for the same role on Broadway in New York.
Neil Coppen is a renowned and prolific storyteller and theatre-maker who has won several major awards for his writing, design and direction work including Standard Bank Ovation Awards, Naledi’s, Fiesta and Kanna Awards, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Drama 2011 and the 2019 Olive Schreiner Prize for Drama. Most recently, he won the Cape Town Theatre Award (formerly Fleur du Cap Theatre Award) for Best Director and, with Mpume Mthombeni, Best New South African Script, for Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater, which won awards in all seven categories in which the production was nominated.
Danica De La Rey Jones is a magnetic force in the South African film industry. With over a decade of industry experience, she has built a career defined by high-stakes performances and an unflinching emotional range. She has been seen on screen in the lead role of the action feature Hunting Jessica Brok, which secured a 100-cinema North American release alongside UK and European distribution. Other roles include the complex villain “TK” in Netflix’s Unseen (Season 2) while on stage she has captivated audiences in productions such as James Ngcobo’s For Colored Girls.
Prima Facie will be presented at The Baxter Studio from 4 to 29 August.
How Now Brown Cow in association with The Market Theatre presents the production in Johannesburg from 17 September to 4 October at The Market Theatre.
Book now for Prima Facie:
*The Baxter Studio: 4 to 29 August. Book at Webtickets
*The Market Theatre: 17 September to 4 October. Book at Webtickets
Duration: 75 mins (No Interval)
Age Restriction: NO UNDER 14s (Content Warning: Expect strong references to sexual assault, violence, and potentially triggering content)
