Written by Suzie Miller, this production is directed by esteemed director Neil Coppen (Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater; Animal Farm; Tin Bucket Drum), fresh from multiple award wins at the recent Cape Town Theatre Awards, 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 Barney Simon at the Market Theatre from 17 September until 4 October, after its debut season in Cape Town at The Baxter Studio from 4 to 29 August.

Bookings can be made at Webtickets.

Danica De La Rey Jones with director Neil Coppen is currently deep into rehearsals, this being their final week before the show opens in Cape Town next week.

As the show’s director, Neil took a break during rehearsals to give us his thoughts.

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 Neil Coppen and Patrick Curtis and Sound Design by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder.

The 2022 London production of the show was nominated for five 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.

“Beyond merely presenting a gripping staging of Prima Facie on South African stages, I’m excited by the opportunity this creates to use the production strategically to deepen the discussion around its concerns and themes with our audiences,” says director Neil Coppen.

“Miller’s play poses some tough and provocative questions around the law and legal systems that are supposedly put in place to protect us all. I think the play really asks the questions around who created the law in the first place and Tessa’s, the protagonists journey, reveals how it’s clearly been constructed to serve and protect a select and powerful few.”

“I’m always inspired by complex and contemporary texts that speak to the world we are navigating, and I’m very much looking forward to working with Danica on this,” he says.

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 is a compelling, incisive theatrical drama,” says How Now Brown Cow producer Julie-Anne McDowell. “Danica is known for her magnetic, powerful presence on screen and we can’t wait to see her transfer that to thrill theatre audiences in Prima Facie.”

Prima Facie will be on the Barney Simon Theatre stage at The Market Theatre from
Thursday 17 September – Sunday 4 October.

Performances are Wednesdays – Fridays @ 19h00, Saturdays @ 15h00 & 19h00, Sundays @ 15h00.
Discounted prices apply for the preview performances: 16 – 19 September, as well as “Half Price Wednesdays” each week.

Bookings are at Webtickets.

Duration of the play: 85 mins (No Interval).

Age Restriction: NO UNDER 14s (Content Warning: Expect strong references to sexual assault, violence, and potentially triggering content)

The Johannesburg staging of Prima Facie follows the debut season in Cape Town at The Baxter Studio from 4 – 29 August.

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The post Award-Winning Prima Facie Comes to The Market Theatre This September appeared first on Stage and Screen.

Written by Suzie Miller, Prima Facie arrives on South African soil this August with significant global credibility behind it, having dominated both the Olivier Awards and the Tony Awards. Yet the real question is not about its accolades, it’s about its relevance in a country grappling with its own deeply entrenched legal and social challenges.

At the centre of the narrative is Tessa, portrayed by Danica De La Rey Jones, a sharp, ambitious barrister who has built her career defending the accused. She understands the system, speaks its language, and thrives within its rigid framework until she is forced into a position that exposes its limitations. When she becomes the victim of a violent assault, the rules she once relied on begin to unravel.

Directed by Neil Coppen, the production does not shy away from uncomfortable truths. Instead, it leans into them, dissecting the mechanics of a legal process that often prioritises procedure over people. The notion of “evidence” is placed under scrutiny, raising a critical tension: does the system deliver justice, or simply process cases?

Positioned within South Africa’s ongoing crisis around gender-based violence, Prima Facie becomes more than a performance; it becomes a case study in systemic failure and institutional inertia. Coppen’s assertion that there is no more urgent context for this story is difficult to dispute. The play challenges audiences to move beyond passive consumption and engage with the underlying questions it raises.

Presented by How Now Brown Cow in association with The Market Theatre, the production signals a strategic alignment between storytelling and social commentary. It’s not just about raising awareness, it’s about reframing the conversation around justice itself.

Catch the Season

• Cape Town: The Baxter Theatre Centre | 4 – 29 August
• Johannesburg: The Market Theatre | 17 September – 4 October

Bookings via Webtickets (Age advisory: 14)

In an environment where legal frameworks are often viewed as definitive, Prima Facie introduces a degree of scepticism that feels both necessary and overdue. The production doesn’t offer easy resolutions, nor does it pretend to. Instead, it leaves audiences with a lingering question—when the system itself is under scrutiny, where does accountability truly begin, and who gets left behind in the process?

The post Seeking Justice in a Broken System: Prima Facie Makes Its South African Debut appeared first on Stage and Screen.