Prima Facie by Suzie Miller

Author:Suzie Miller [Miller, Suzie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788506793
Publisher: Nick Hern Books

Prima Facie

Suzie Miller

For my mum,

Elaine Doreen Miller

Character

TESSA, thirties

Note on Text

[words in brackets, and in italics, can be spoken or acted] words in bold italics are stage directions

… a trailing thought

– a truncated line

/ an interruption

The paragraphing and line spacing express how the lines can be delivered in timing and tone.

PART ONE

Scene One

Thoroughbreds

NOW

Court.

Thoroughbreds.

Every single one.

Primed for the race.

Every muscle pumped

trained and ready for the sprint.

All posh. All expensive.

Not me.

But I’m here too.

Hold it together.

Hold back.

Keep the blood

at just the right temperature.

Just below boil.

Waiting at the starting gates,

then…

‘all rise’,

out of the stalls.

Hold back.

Push forward.

Know when to have restraint,

when to find an opening.

Ready to jump when the prosecution falters.

Poised.

Watching, waiting.

Nerves taut,

mind operating on ten tracks at once.

Blood pumping.

Muscles

tightly wound,

waiting to spring.

Waiting.

It’s starting to open up,

wait.

Wait.

Careful.

This is the measure of your skill set,

the calm before.

And,

there it is.

Instinct pushes me forward.

‘YOUR HONOUR!’

[Hold everything in one place.]

I’m on my feet.

Eyes

zooming in on me.

‘Objection sustained.’

Yesss.

My client,

big guy,

looks stunned.

Doesn’t quite know I’ve won a point,

but he feels the shift.

Likes it.

My client hates the witness,

but for me,

the witness is just

‘the witness’.

I sit down.

The prosecution finishes.

Then it’s time.

The judge looks at me:

‘It’s your witness Ms Ensler.’

Yes.

The witness is mine!

The witness breathes in.

I stand up,

slowly, do up the button on my jacket.

Courtroom silent,

charged,

waiting for me.

The thrill of it.

Keep it cool,

cooool.

Voice,

measured.

And

confident.

Play it.

Play it,

it’s yours.

[You’re holding it in the palm of your hand.]

Play with it.

Stretch it out,

it’s yours.

Cross-examination.

It’s the best part.

All instinct.

Ask the question.

Repeat the answer;

repeat it again.

Watch the witness’s face,

let him think I’m getting mixed up;

that I’m a bit slow in understanding what happened.

Flick through some pages;

let him think I’ve lost my way.

Hear breathing.

A snicker from the prosecution counsel.

Good.

Good.

Very good.

Again,

flick through papers.

My client shifts uncomfortably in the dock.

Good.

Then I repeat the question,

watch the witness relax.

Shoulders move back;

‘This one doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing.’

Judge expressionless.

This judge has seen me before,

seen the likes of me.

Question one.

Question two.

Look worried about the answers.

This emboldens him.

Watch, yes,

here he goes.

Let the witness talk,

over-talk.

Let him ‘clarify’.

Good

‘Thanks for that, I wasn’t sure…’

See his eyes dismiss me,

‘This one must be straight out of uni or something;

she’s not that good.’

Huh!

Tess laughs.

It relaxes him.

He’s got the upper hand

he is now not careful

not afraid

no longer

vigilant.

He says something inconsistent.

I let him explain it to me.

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