Even when Suzie Miller was a law student she felt uncomfortable with the way the law dealt with sexual assault cases.
"I realised that there was a sort of patriarchal kind of paradigm within which it was set. And no-one seemed to question that."
So much so she vowed never to do rape cases. But when working as a human rights and criminal lawyer she was required to take statements from women who were raped so they could get sexual assault counselling.
"Unless you’ve been sexually assaulted, it’s not something that you’d do for fun. So I would take these statements, which were just really, really, you know, very, very painful to take and to hear, but extraordinarily difficult for the person giving the statement."
Miller realised many of these women would not get their day in court, or if they did would be unlikely to have the perpetrator convicted given the statistics.
"We believe in innocence until proven guilty, and why that’s important. But then within that structure, the way we deal with sexual assault is an overkill in terms of not recognising that the complainant has so many barriers for her truth to be heard. It’s very easy to get off a rape charge, basically.
"Saying that is almost sacrilegious for a defence lawyer. I’m not a prosecutor, but when it comes to sexual assault, I see where the damage is. I see where the damage to people occurs, people that just come forward to talk about ... and they’re cross-examined about consistency and about things that happen to them that are deeply traumatic, and the suggestions are often that they’re making it up or that they’re very mistaken.
"I read a lot about it and decided eventually to write the play."
Miller chose to write it as a one-woman show as she did not want to have a man rape someone on stage, yet still wanted the audience to know it happened. It also enabled her to emphasise its purpose of opening a conversation about the legal system’s failings when dealing with sexual assault or rape, especially the issue of consent.
"So when you see the re-narratising in court, you know that it happened. So you can see the unfairness within it."
Prima Facie premiered in 2019 at the Griffin Theatre in Sydney, Australia, won the 2020 Australian Writers’ Guild Award for Drama; the 2020 David Williamson Award for Outstanding Theatre Writing; and the 2020 Major Australian Writers’ Guild Award.
Three years later it soared to popularity when the British version of the play had its London, West End debut starring Jodie Comer (Killing Eve). It went on to win a Olivier Award for Best New Play and an Olivier and Tony Award for Comer. The play then transferred to Broadway in the United States in 2023 starring Comer and has been translated into more than 20 languages.
Miller (61) has also written a feature film adaptation of the play for Bunya Productions and Participant Media in the US, with Cynthia Erivo (Broadways’ The Colour Purple) to star in it.
She can still remember seeing Prima Facie (Latin for "on the face of it") on the stage for the first time at Griffin Theatre, in Australia.
"There was an instant standing ovation. The director and I sort of went, wow, people really get it. You know, you don’t know how something’s going to be received until it is. It was a pretty great moment."
Its London debut was another level of stress.
She need not have worried as audiences in the United Kingdom also loved it. Having it go to Broadway also was a dream come true.
"It’s every playwright’s ambition, I guess. So you kind of dream it up a bit, but you don’t, you know. Being in the middle of it is a much harder thing. Like the grit of having to stand there and watch it all happen and hope for the best.
"It was so phenomenally successful with audiences, you could never dream that up. So it was really fantastic."
The play has been performed in 60 countries around the world — including New Zealand where the Dunedin production, directed by Lara Macgregor, is about to be staged, and another performance of it is touring the rest of the country.
"There’s actually 22 productions of it in Germany alone. That really does blow my mind, actually."
It is a long way from Miller’s late start in to the world of theatre. She did not go to a theatre performance until she was in her early 20s. But going to a Catholic school meant she took part in a lot of nativity plays and also did ballet and Japanese dance.
"Performing always interested me."
Her journey to award-winning playwright began when she decided to do a Masters’ degree in theatre and film and when on maternity leave went to the National Institute of Dramatic Art to do what was then called a playwright’s studio.
"So the next step was writing a play and taking it to the theatre, which I did. And that same play [Cross Sections] transferred to the Opera House in Sydney."
She continued to work part-time as a lawyer and write plays but doing both was starting to become too hard to juggle.
"I’d been offered a sort of judicial appointment in law and I realised it was a bit of a T intersection. I also got offered a residency period at the National Theatre Studio. And so I had to make a decision between one or the other."
She chose the theatre and London and the rest as they say is history. Having the London show be so successful not only as a theatrical production but to open people’s eyes the failure of the law around sexual assault victims is more than she hoped.
"The judges who saw it changed various parts of the law, which has been amazing. And there’s a lot of reform around it.
"It’s exhausting. But, you know, it’s amazing to see the changes and to see judges actually really watch the film. In Northern Ireland judges now have to watch the film or the play before they can sit on rape cases."
Some police forces use it as an educational tool.
And as the director said to me, you know you’ve done well when it jumps off the arts pages into the main news section, because then it’s actually, the issue is having an impact."
Her legal background has definitely helped the play’s success, she says. Although it was not easy to write something that was authentic enough for lawyers but also basic enough for the lay person.
"I think that because it actually talks to people in the system in the language that they understand. I mean, it’s for general audiences but there’s a few little Easter eggs in there for judges, lawyers as well, that people in the general audience probably don’t pick up on. They might laugh at some of the jokes, but they don’t know the sort of impact it has on legal people."
Victims have also been profoundly affected by the show contacting Miller and Comer by the hundreds.
"Audience members would queue up for hours to just get their book signed and say, "I’m one in three". It’s a reference to "one in three" within the play.
"I feel grateful that people feel that they can say something without having to, they can come and talk to someone and say "I’m one in three" without having to go into detail and there’s a certain understanding of what that means in the context of the play."
The impact the play has on those who see it, also drew in Dunedin actor and director Macgregor after she saw the National Theatre Live film two years ago. It’s power drove her to set up Birds of a Feather theatre company and decide to stage her first show in Dunedin in nine years.
She fought for the exclusive rights to perform it in Dunedin and brought in former Dunedin actress Serena Cotton to star as Tessa in the production.
Auckland-based Cotton has always wanted the role ever since first seeing the film in Palmerston North a few years ago.
"I was completely blindsided by the incredible writing and I wanted to do what she was doing, bringing humour, courage and playfulness to the role and I’ve never let the idea go. I’m very excited about the challenge of it."
Miller’s next play is about to open at the National Theatre in London and is another legal drama, this time featuring a female judge who is to be played by Oscar-nominated actress Rosamund Pike.
"I write about contemporary issues and this is about a very contemporary issue."
TO SEE:
Prima Facie by Suzie Miller at Allen Hall, October 31–November 17.
Where to get help in NZ
Women’s Refuge: 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843
Shine: 9am-11pm every day, 0508 744 633
Shakti: for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children. 0800 742 584
Rape Crisis: 0800 883 300
Healthline: 0800 611 116
Lifeline Aotearoa: 0800 543 354
Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
