- Killing Eve star Jodie Comer won Tony and Olivier awards for her role in Prima Facie
- The star played Tessa in the show, a barrister who defends people accused of sexual assault, before she herself is sexually assaulted by a colleague
- A recorded version of the play will now be made available to Northern Ireland judges to help them deal with sexual assault cases
After shooting to fame in the Emmy award winning series, Killing Eve, Jodie Comer’s career has gone from strength to strength.
But while the actor, 31, is now a Hollywood star, her work in the theater has been so powerful that it’s actually helping to change the law.
Starring in the one-woman play Prima Facie on both Broadway and in London’s West End, Comer played the character of Tessa – a barrister who defends people accused of sexual assault, before she herself is raped by a colleague.
And now a recorded version of the show – by playwright Susie Miller – is being made available to judges who deal with sexual assault cases in Northern Ireland’s courts.
Speaking to BBC News NI, Miller revealed how she believed theater could change society.
“When you take a character and show, rather than tell, someone what’s not working – it’s really easy to see it when it’s in a story context, and with a character that you really care about,” she said.
Adding that she had received phone calls from “so many” judges who came to see the play, Miller continued, “This is a conversation that everyone has to have and we have to have it now.
“We need to talk about what we can do within our court system to actually protect someone who’s a complainant and encourage people to complain,
“Encourage them to have faith there will be some outcome that is, at the very least, not re-traumatising for them, but at the better end of the scale is that they are believed.
“The more aware that our judges are in court, the more they can come to terms with something that they see as a rape myth and call it out.”
Comer’s West End debut in the play was hailed by critics, earning her a Laurence Olivier award, and later a Tony award when it reached Broadway.
Since bursting onto our screens as assassin Villanelle in Killing Eve – in which she starred opposite Sandra Oh – Comer has gone on to star in Hollywood blockbusters including The Last Duel, Free Guy and The Bikeriders.
