Prima facie | À première vue

From a modest background, she climbed the ranks to become a formidable lawyer, specializing in defending men accused of sexual assault. She excels in the art of poking holes in testimony and discrediting victims. Her devastating arguments deliver win after win. But one night, everything changes. The woman who has mastered the rules of the game suddenly finds herself on the other side of the mirror. She now has to struggle through a legal process that – despite her intimate knowledge of its workings – methodically dismantles her story and closes in on her with merciless precision.

The legal thriller Prima facie – a Latin expression used in law to mean “at first sight” – immerses the audience in the maws of the justice system. Written by Australian British playwright Suzie Miller, a former attorney herself, this nail-biting, one-woman show is performed by Valérie Tellos, who plays a formidable role: a strong, brilliant woman with caustic humour, caught up in the slow, cold machine of the legal system. Acclaimed from London to New York, Prima facie | À première vue is a play that packs a punch and reignites the discourse about the vulnerability of victims of sexual assault, fuelling discussion well beyond the theatre. A galvanizing experience, directed by Louis-Karl Tremblay (Tout ça), where theatre becomes a site of resistance that says: the fight goes on.