Project description: Prima Facie, an award-winning play on two of the most famous stages of theatre – Broadway in New York and West End in London – is an incredibly precisely written play dealing with court proceedings in cases of sexual abuse of women. The premiere of the play by Australian-British author Susie Miller, a former lawyer with experience in human and children’s rights, was shown in Australia in 2019 by judges and lawyers, triggering changes in the way the legal system looks at cases of sexual abuse. Since then, Prima Facie has become an international phenomenon with productions all over the world, including Serbia. Actress Maša Dakić, with award-winning theater director Anja Suša, staged a Serbian version of the story that follows a young, self-confident and ambitious lawyer who always manages to defend men accused of sexual assault. She takes on such cases with a special challenge, believing in the legal system and court processes, until she becomes a victim of abuse herself and realizes that the levels of justice are deeply distorted. The premiere of the play was performed at Belgrade’s Bitef Theater in early 2024 and shows the complexity of the legal profession and the imperfection of the judicial system, but also offers solutions that can be implemented through changes to the law. In the context of today’s Serbia, with the increased number of femicide, the present distrust of women who report sexual abuse, long and painful court proceedings in which a woman goes through trauma over and over again, often in front of the one who caused the trauma, it is very important that the play (sold out!) is performed in front of decision-makers or those who can influence it. So far, the play has been performed in front of the Minister of Culture, a judge of the Court of Appeal, professors and assistants of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, as well as law students. The play continues to live and plans to play outside of Belgrade, followed by panels in which legal experts, psychologists and representatives of relevant organizations will participate, and the response of the audience so far gives hope that engaged art can contribute to changes in laws and regulations related to sexual violence.
Grant amount: 1.400.000,00 RSD
