LONDON - Critics have hailed Jodie Comer’s West End debut, describing her performance in Prima Facie as “phenomenal”. The Liverpool-born actress was widely praised, but many critics were less positive about the play itself. “What a truly stunning debut it is,” said Deadline. “Comer is phenomenal and commands the stage.” But Time Out added: “It’s just a bummer the play’s not better. For all Comer’s charisma, the text is stodgy, and the drama ponderous and lacking nuance.” Prima Facie is a one-woman show focusing on Tessa (Comer), a barrister who specialises in defending people accused of sexual assault. But when she is date-raped by a colleague, Tessa begins questioning the legal system as she becomes the plaintiff in a trial herself. “West End debuts don’t come much more astonishing than this solo tour de force by Jodie Comer,” said The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish in his four-star review.
“In the face of Comer’s triumphant leap into the live acting arena, I was mainly left wanting to see her on stage more; she’s in her element, and can work wonders.” The play, by Australian-British writer Suzie Miller, was a hit when it opened down under before the pandemic.
For its transfer to London’s Harold Pinter Theatre, the character of Tessa has been tweaked so she is from a working-class Liverpudlian background. “I’d wondered if the famously good-with-accents actor would ‘go Australian’ but Miller has probably wisely tweaked the script,” noted Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski in a three-star review.
“Here, Comer speaks in an affectedly sanded-down version of her own Scouse accent, like Tessa has deliberately smoothed out her vowels in the name of blending in with her posher peers.”
He continued: “It’s understandable that Comer wanted to kick off her stage career with a meaty 100-minute monologue about something she feels passionate about. If all famous actors simply went for the best play possible, we’d be stuck with even more Hamlet. With Prima Facie, Jodie Comer had something to prove about herself, and something she wanted to say about the world, and she’s done both.”
“In the face of Comer’s triumphant leap into the live acting arena, I was mainly left wanting to see her on stage more; she’s in her element, and can work wonders.” The play, by Australian-British writer Suzie Miller, was a hit when it opened down under before the pandemic.
For its transfer to London’s Harold Pinter Theatre, the character of Tessa has been tweaked so she is from a working-class Liverpudlian background. “I’d wondered if the famously good-with-accents actor would ‘go Australian’ but Miller has probably wisely tweaked the script,” noted Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski in a three-star review.
“Here, Comer speaks in an affectedly sanded-down version of her own Scouse accent, like Tessa has deliberately smoothed out her vowels in the name of blending in with her posher peers.”
He continued: “It’s understandable that Comer wanted to kick off her stage career with a meaty 100-minute monologue about something she feels passionate about. If all famous actors simply went for the best play possible, we’d be stuck with even more Hamlet. With Prima Facie, Jodie Comer had something to prove about herself, and something she wanted to say about the world, and she’s done both.”
