A fight with words

Prima Facie is like getting a punch in the stomach – but something I still highly recommend.

Warning – this text contains descriptions of abuse and may be triggering for some readers.

The performance starts before everyone has entered the hall. The stage is tilted towards us with the back part set up. On the stage are stacks of thin cushions held together with thread that imitates paper. There are two on the stage: One of them behind a drum kit (Elisabeth Mørland Nesset), and one on the stage itself (Marie Kristine Hildonen), dancing back and forth wearing a suit. When the audience has sat down and calmed down, the percussionist begins to increase the tempo and the actor moves to the beat. The music stops and the performance has officially begun. 

We are now in a courtroom, and the actress is a defense attorney. She is in battle mode, the lights are on her, the courtroom is full of tension. Every step and movement is full of confidence without a sign of hesitation. She is here to win. The questions come flowing and strong, the witness stumbles over her words and falls into the trap, Tess won the case. Tess directs the questions at us in the audience as if we were the witness. She has not lost a case in 4 months. Later, Tess and her colleagues go to a party, where the handsome lawyer colleague Julian tries his hand at Tess and they dance together at the bar. 

The good mood disappears

The week after the party, both Julian and Tess work late at the office doing paperwork. They end up having sex in the office, and then arrange to have a drink together later in the week. Tess and Julian go to a Japanese restaurant and order both sake and wine. The mood is good: Tess feels great in her new dress and Julian is handsome, kind and charming.

Afterwards, they take an Uber to Tess's house. They make out in the backseat and she's excited. Emotions run high when they get to Tess's house, and they go to bed. What starts as consensual sex changes throughout the night. When Tess has had enough and is sick, Julian won't listen and it ends with a rape.

After the assault, Julian falls asleep in Tess's bed. She sneaks out of the room and into the bathroom and turns on the shower. All she wants to do is scrub off everything Julian has touched. The stage tilts more and the stacks of pillows fall down. The lights dim and Tess feels alone and lost. What can she do now? She knows better than most that few rapists are punished. 

Changed roles

Suddenly she finds herself in a situation where everything has been turned upside down. In an attempt to right an injustice against her, she sees the system she has worked to uphold and protect unravel before her. The system that is designed with laws that are supposed to protect, fails when it comes to protecting her. Tess goes on trial against her rapist and for the first time is the victim in a case. She knows what kind of questions they will ask, but still she stumbles in her words. Tess thinks about all the possible criminals and rapists she has helped free. How she got the victim to ask questions about their memory and experiences. For many years, Tess has been on the winning side, she has been the one the court has listened to and believed in, this time she is invisible. Apart from a few sad looks, no one is by her side. She loses the trial and the rapist is acquitted. 

After the performance, I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. There was a feeling in my stomach that I haven't had after a performance in a long time. I had to stop to breathe and think about what I had seen. Marie Kristine Hildonen, who plays Tess, is an incredibly skilled actress who made me feel what she is playing in my own body. When she danced, I wanted to join in, when she screamed I was devastated and when she was empty I am gone, just as if my soul was in a different room than my body. I see what she sees, without anyone else on stage. Hildonen and Nesset, who plays percussion, have a chemistry that sets the mood on stage before anything is said. The music leads the mood: whether it is calm or full of nervous tension is determined by the tempo and the volume. In some scenes, the music is so loud that you don't catch everything that is being said, but in other scenes it is so quiet that you feel alone. 

I recommend it to anyone who is mature enough to watch it. I felt so bad inside afterwards that all I wanted was a hug. The age limit is set at 14, but I recommend it to those older than 18. It is strong and painful to watch, but it is a story that is important to know about. Many who have been raped, not just women, are not taken seriously in court and many who are accused are acquitted. This is a representation of what is happening around us, but which we often do not understand.