Killing Eve star Jodie Comer triumphed on her Broadway debut bringing her hit West End show to New York’s theatreland.
Comer was hailed by critics as “just plain f***ing remarkable” for her performance in the one-woman play Prima Facie, which is about a high flying lawyer who finds herself on the wrong end of the law after she is raped by a colleague.
Among the audience to see her on stage were Vogue editor Anna Wintour and fellow actors Glenn Close, Uma Thurman and Matt Damon.
The Wall Street Journal said the play, written by lawyer-turned playwright Suzie Miller, “strikes home with scalding power”.
Writing in Entertainment Weekly, Lester Fabian Brathwaite praised Comer’s performance as “absolutely transfixing”.
He hailed her portrayal of the character Tessa as “at first haughty and self-possessed as the young lawyer with a brilliant future, and then defeated but defiant as a victim determined to retain her faith in the system to which she had dedicated her life.”
Writing in Time Out, Adam Feldman said she produced a “powerful and moving star turn”.
He wrote: “Comer is a whirlwind: moving furniture, changing costumes, standing on tables, switching into the voices and accents of more than a dozen minor characters as Tessa narrates her story.
“Her virtuosity is not just a game – it’s emotional. Miller builds a respectable case, but Comer argues it brilliantly.”
Comer, who was named best actress for the performance at last year’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards, had only made one professional appearance on stage before taking on this role.
The 30-year-old from Liverpool turned down a part in Ridley Scott’s historical blockbuster about Napoleon to take the job and admitted at first it seemed “like a heavy load to carry given that I have so little experience”.
She told the Standard: “I have been taught and haven’t done many theatre auditions.
“There was a lot of fear and insecurity and ego. I thought, am I capable?”
But she said the West End success – the play also brought in £2 million in box office receipts when it was shown in cinemas – reassured her she had made the right decision.
She said: “The show is the thing I am proudest of in my life.
“It changed me so much and I learned so much.
“It really gives me shivers because there have been so many steps and it continues and continues to grow”.
