Jodie Comer is to reprise her Olivier and Tony award-winning performance in Prima Facie “one last time” on tour next year, including a visit to her hometown of Liverpool.
The monologue, written by Suzie Miller, stars Comer as a barrister who defends men of rape and is assaulted herself. The Killing Eve actor made her West End debut in 2022 in the show, which sold out and then broke box-office records when it played in cinemas for NT Live. Comer took it to Broadway in 2023 and also recorded an audiobook adaptation by Miller, who spent 15 years as a lawyer.
“It is a huge privilege to return to Prima Facie for one last time,” said Comer. “I can’t think of a better finale to what has been such an incredible and deeply rewarding chapter in my life.”
The tour begins at Richmond theatre on 23 January 2026, then visits the Gaiety in Dublin, the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, Cardiff’s New theatre, York’s Grand Opera House, Theatre Royal Bath, Canterbury’s Marlowe theatre, Birmingham Rep and, finally, Liverpool Playhouse, where it runs from 17 to 21 March.
“The resonance of Suzie Miller’s writing, both in London and New York, exceeded anything we could have imagined,” said Comer. The play probes the way the legal system deals with sexual assault, particularly the challenge of proving rape beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. Miller has said that, in such cases, “the forum of the court is not fit for purpose”.
Researching the play, the Prima Facie team sat in on real trials. Accepting the Olivier award for best new play in 2023, Miller thanked barristers and judges at the Old Bailey. Comer won the best actress prize at the Oliviers that year.
Tickets for the tour go on sale on 25 March. Miller said: “Jodie’s commitment to the story reaching so many new venues and communities means more people can be part of the conversation, and the solution.” Prima Facie has ongoing partnerships with the charities the Schools Consent Project and Everyone’s Invited, which the play’s producer James Bierman said were vital for “creating safe spaces for people to share their stories and be heard”.
Prima Facie is directed by Justin Martin and composed by Rebecca Lucy Taylor, AKA Self Esteem. Next month, Self Esteem will perform A Complicated Woman Live, a “theatrical presentation” of her new album, at the Duke of York’s theatre in London.
