Prima Facie, a one-woman play by Suzie Miller, tells the story of a lawyer who defends men accused of sexual assault and then is assaulted herself.
The play had a 2019 run in Australia. In 2022, Justin Martin mounted a new production in London’s West End with Jodie Comer. After meeting with critical acclaim and numerous awards, Martin’s production moved to New York. Miriam Buether created the sets and costumes, Natasha Chivers designed the lights, and Ben and Max Ringham did the soundscape. Rebecca Lucy Taylor wrote music.
Willie Williams, who has designed and directed live events and concert tours for U2, George Michael, David Bowie, R.E.M, and others, a giant kinetic chandelier for a Las Vegas nightclub and other club designs, a variety of public works installations, performing arts projects, and several musicals and plays, did the video for Treatment Studio on Prima Facie.
Live Design had a few questions for him.
Live Design: What was the overall design concept and how did video fit into it?
Willie Williams: The brief for the first video element was very specific; the need to utilize a camera and screen of some kind for the police interview. Subsequently, due to the script jumping around in time, there was a thought early on that projection might help guide the audience, so there were a few ideas about how this might be done. Once it was established that we would be using projection, more ideas came in during the rehearsal process which we worked up and put in the show.
LD: How was your approach the same or different than it is when you tackle a rock concert tour or other kinds of projects you’ve taken on?
WW: The process could hardly have been more different to putting a rock show together. It was also quite different to making ‘video scenery’ which I have done for many plays and productions because this wasn’t at all decorative, each piece has a very specific function as part of the narrative.
LD: Were there any special challenges in the design process?
WW: The production was originally created for the West End, opening at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London. It’s a small space and the initial creative challenge was mostly about real estate. Miriam’s stage set is designed to be intensely claustrophobic, the space completely surrounded with floor-to-ceiling shelves of white box files. There is also a ceiling piece which is in place for the first half of the play, which almost seals off the area above the stage. This made it very difficult to find locations for lighting or projection – especially as there are two rain curtains over the stage which are obviously not ideal for proximity to fragile electronics.
LD: Were there ideas you considered and tossed out?
WW: There were many ideas that we looked at. My team at Treatment can work very quickly so almost every day during tech we were trying out new ideas and Justin was responsive and enthusiastic. Ultimately though, the key to the performance is that we feel like Jodie is doing everything herself; she moves the furniture, sets up the camera and does costume changes right in front of us. Justin felt that there was a danger that random projection might feel ‘imposed’ on the action, rather than coming from it so ultimately the entirety of the video content comes down to four cues. I was greatly impressed by this clarity of vision; the video content is the opposite of eye candy; it is there to drive & support the narrative so every cue must be justified.
LD: How did you work with other designers on the show?
WW: This was a truly great team of people and all of them were very accommodating. I was particularly in awe of Natasha, methodically working through the play, following Jodie to countless locations and keeping her perfectly lit, without the use of follow spots. She was also very aware of the key projection moments and very willing to help make them work in tandem with the lighting.
LD: What sort of research did the show involve? Or did you find inspiration a different way?
WW: There was a thought at one stage that once the play had completed, we would close out by running statistics about sexual assault in the UK. Researching this in order to make the information graphics was one of the most humbling and mortifying experiences of my life. We didn’t use the statistics ultimately, but it has profoundly affected my view of this issue.
LD: Did anything change between the West End and Broadway?
WW: In London we used PRG’s MBox, largely due to budget, and that there was no dedicated video tech, so everything had to pretty much look after itself. For the Broadway transfer, my video associate, Brad Peterson, suggested moving to D3 (Disguise) for more flexibility.
LD: Did you see the production in Australia? Do you have a sense of how the productions, and in particular the video, differed?
WW: I didn’t see the Australian production, but I believe it was very simple. There wasn’t a video element that I was aware of.
LD: What instruments did you use? Where did you place them?
WW: There are just two projectors: 12K Panasonic Laser projectors. One is on the circle rail and the other tucked up just in front of the proscenium. In London especially, we needed to be able to project onto the floor as well as the backdrop because the theatre is so precipitously high, the audience in the higher levels can’t see all of the back wall of the stage, so we repeat the material on the floor.
LD: What projects do you have in progress now?
WW: Conveniently, I had been working on Stories of Surrender Bono’s ‘one man show’ which is also doing a run in New York. I am directing that show, as well as designing and lighting it, so it has been quite an intense period. Completely by coincidence, I also designed the current touring production & lighting for Self Esteem, a.k.a. Rebecca Lucy Taylor, who composed the soundtrack of Prima Facie.
Up next is the U2 Sphere show in Las Vegas, for which I am overall creative director, so that should be enough to keep me busy until Christmas.
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