Australian plays rarely provoke change in legal processes on the other side of the world.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Yet that's only the beginning for the award-winning Prima Facie, the story of a fearless criminal defence lawyer who finds herself on the other side of a courtroom after being assaulted.
The one-woman show covers very heavy topics but can be laugh-out-loud funny before its tone shifts about halfway through.
It's the second time actor Sheridan Harbridge has played its protagonist Tessa Ensler, in what's already a fast-selling Melbourne run before the production heads to regional Victorian towns.
While Harbridge made the lead role her own in its debut season, Killing Eve star Jodie Comer starred in the West End production and will take it to Broadway later this year.
The creative team says the play takes the audience on a journey as confident Tessa is left devastated after she is effectively put on trial and let down by the legal system.
Harbridge is keenly aware of the impact it can have on people and has been approached by audience members wanting to talk about their own experiences.
"They are there to either go through with me, or be there to understand what maybe someone they know has been through," Harbridge told AAP.
"It's feels much hotter in the room and much more raw."
Director Lee Lewis hopes the play will one day be considered a "redundant period piece about how awful things were" but until then, it offers a glimpse into how rough the treatment of survivors can be.
"People come out actually shell-shocked in a way by what they've been allowed to experience," she said.
"I know that this play wouldn't have existed 10 years ago and if it had existed, I doubt there would have been the theatre company that would have put it on 10 years ago."
Playwright and former lawyer Suzie Miller never expected a play she wrote in her garage would go on to be adapted in 30 different countries or empower people to come forward, but regularly receives messages form survivors.
"(They said) I knew it would trigger me, but when I came out, I felt like I was going to tell my mother about it or I was going to go to the police," she said.
It also sparked change in the UK, after a senior judge in the audience was inspired to adjust directions read out to juries about consent in sex assault cases.
A group of UK lawyers are now examining reforms to place more emphasis on whether an accused perpetrator knew they had consent, and Miller said the reception from the Australian legal community has been just as profound.
"The UK had such a complex discussion around it and I was so eager to be participating in a conversation, and I think Australia's also (having the discussion) as well," she said.
Australian Associated Press
