National Theatre Live: Prima Facie

Jodie Comer is probably the best actress working today. She commands you to pay attention to what she's saying, successfully forcing me to enjoy learning about legal terminology before tearing my heart out and branding it with the message of the story.

I had heard it was incredible by people who had seen it live so my expectations were high. Nothing prepared me for what I saw though. Quite simply it was the best performance I have ever seen. Comer is beyond brilliant in this and fills every single second of the play with joy, pain, doubt, guilt, horror. My first reaction after leaving the theatre is - how could she put that much energy into the performance night after night on stage? The effort she put in exhausted us just watching. You will never see a better performance, ever- unless she does something else that tops even this.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

Jodie Comer's performance is stunning, captivating and Oscar worthy. Though it is a one woman show, she switches between so many characters with such ease and class that is suspends the audience's disbelief fully. There was not a dry eye in the entire cinema by the end and I've personally still not fully processed just how hard hitting and emotional the message of Prima Facie is.

In Tessa's words, 'in the face of it, something has to change'. And it does. I cannot recommend watching it enough.

Jodie Comer's talent is preternatural. I don't think the industry is even ready for it 😳. Olivier Award must be pending at this point with Tony Award on the cards and Jodie Comer deserves it all. The play was just as brilliant on the silver screen, the editing and direction for camera on point and I was probably even more stunned this time round. Emotive, visceral, poignant, chastening, fearless, faultless, mesmerising, vivid, vigorous, breathtaking because well Jodie Comer. All stars have aligned with this play; production, set design, music composition, and are revolving around Jodie. The impact it's having, and in particular on the 1 in 3, is profound. It's probably the single most important piece of art produced in theatre for some time. Broadway has no excuse to not to be enamoured with it when it heads there.

I previously mentioned that Jodie Comer may have peaked in Killing Eve and don't see her topping that level of acting. But boy was I wrong. I was stunned by her performance. What she delivers is raw, hurtful and the truth. People said "there are hints of Villanelle", but I saw no V, just smooth seamless acting as Tessa. That's what puts Jodie above others, every character she plays is unique to the character. I never see crossovers with her (unlike most actors).

Jodie is decades ahead of the current acting scene, both screen and stage. I was breathless and genuinely heart clenched for the entire show. It's senseless that she isn't getting more praise for this heart wrenching performance.

Beyond me how she performed this live nearly everyday for 9 weeks. Words cannot express.