By Diane de Beer

Pictures: Quaid Jones

PRIMA FACIE

DIRECTOR: Neil Coppen

PLAYWRIGHT: Suzie Miller

ACTOR: Danica De La Rey Jones

DATES: Until October 4

VENUE: Barney Simon Theatre at Joburg’s Market

From the second she explosively enters the stage, De La Rey Jones, as the sassy Tessa, a dynamic lawyer, has your attention. And that’s important.

This is a play that is all about taking power by giving women a voice which is loud and clear about a scourge which is too often ignored because of gender bias.

In a country with our high gender violence statistics, it should be seen in large numbers. Under prosecution is “The Law”.

Rape is at issue, and more specifically underlined is the fact that NO MEANS NO. It doesn’t matter when, it doesn’t matter how, when a woman says no, there’s no further argument to be made. Yet in most cases, everyone prosecuting the case is most commonly male.

The play constantly makes the point that the horrific statistics – one in three women fall victim to sexuall violence – tell the story. “Look to your right, look to your left,” Tessa repeats constantly to remind the audience that many of those witnessing this play, will have experienced this trauma.

Holding court is a confident woman who is sure of her role in the legal system until she finds herself on the other side and faces a law that has disarmed her in the most cruel fashion. She is put on trial; she has to defend her every move, and her rapist doesn’t even have to take the stand.

And what is forgotten in the process, is the effect of the violence she has endured, even two years on. Having to peel off the layers she has protected herself with since the rape, she is left completely vulnerable and has to explain where each limb was during the struggle and why she didn’t scream.

The only support she receives is eye contact with a young policewoman who clearly is familiar with these specific procedures.

During the play we could hear some male laughter, none from any women, which speaks volumes. There’s nothing funny when someone has to defend herself when she was the one traumatized. Even today, the statistics, which are so damning, are not a realistic reflection of what is happening out there. But why would someone who has been so viciously assaulted, take to the stand for yet another beating?

That is what the text does so masterfully. It puts the one who has been assaulted at the centre of the events which is what happens in the event of a sexual attack. She is the one who has to prove what happened, often without any witnesses or marks. And how many women will be willing, after a couple of harrowing years and possible healing, to again revisit those traumatic times?

There are no easy answers except that the whole process especially the Law should be revamped with the input of women, those individuals who experience daily assaults of the verbal and physical kind.

More than anything, to this day, there is still no understanding for the concept that no means no, no questions asked.

I have heard some talk about flaws in the text. We’re dealing with rape. Until you go through that devastating onslaught (and let’s hope those who have been spared can keep safe), we’re dealing with a pandemic which can offer no excuses.

Had the tables been reversed, the laws would read very differently and there would be much less discussion about causes and effects. For women it is simple, take my word for it, NO MEANS NO and that’s the only truth.

It’s a brilliant text, heightened by some clever local colour, a smart addition to the text, but without a complementary performance, it would have had little effect.

I have never seen Danica De La Rey Jones on stage and what joy, even (or perhaps especially) with a text this disturbing. She delivers every nuance in subtle or explosive fashion and throws her full body and soul into every moment.

She demands your gaze from start to finish in the way she moves, the way she changes her storytelling, turns the emotion on and off and simply exudes a vulnerability that is tough to resist.

She has you on the edge of your seat throughout as she tells the age-old tale of women at the mercy of unfettered power which is encouraged rather than restrained because it is never confronted.

It is a tough yet most extraordinary play and, with the genius of director Neil Coppen at work, it all comes together magnificently.

That is exactly what a topic seemingly so difficult to discuss demands. For all the reasons mentioned, miss it at your peril.