Inter Alia: Rosamund Pike is 'electric' in gut-wrenching legal drama
Australian playwright Suzie Miller is back with a follow up to her critically-acclaimed hit play Prima Facie

Suzie Miller is the Australian lawyer-turned-playwright whose one-woman play "Prima Facie" – about the failings of the criminal justice system, and featuring a "tour de force" performance from Jodie Comer – was a massive hit in London and New York, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph.
Miller's follow-up, "Inter Alia", has similar themes, but whereas the earlier work was about a top-flight defence barrister who experiences the legal system from the other side after she is sexually assaulted, "Inter Alia" is about a high-powered feminist judge, Jessica, whose 18-year-old son Harry is accused of rape. It's a gripping and gut-wrenching piece, even if it feels a bit "sketchier" and more didactic than its predecessor.
This is a "banger" of a play that sent a chill down my spine, said Robert Gore-Langton in The Mail on Sunday. Rosamund Pike, in her first theatrical role for 15 years, is "electric" as the judge. On stage throughout, she "communicates courage, comedy, principled conviction and a tsunami of middle-class angst".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The first scenes show Jessica juggling her life as a judge with motherhood and a busy social life. All this showcases Pike's range, said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out, but it is when the rape storyline emerges that the drama really gets going. Miller is interested in why rape convictions are so rare, and to that end, she makes Harry quite sympathetic. Jessica, protective of her son but keen to stand by her principles, clings to the hope that, owing to their different understanding of the incident, he and the girl in question are both "right". It does at times feel like a lecture more than a drama – but blessed with a sophisticated staging and a "gale force" central turn, it "hits home, thoughtfully and forcefully".
Director Justin Martin, who also directed "Prima Facie", "ensures that the tempo never falters", said Clive Davis in The Times. The fluid set design brings a "rare sense of intimacy to the Lyttelton's stage", and Pike is superb. But ultimately, Miller's tale is rather "slender", and "you can see where the story is heading long before the final scene".
Lyttelton, National Theatre, London SE1. Until 13 September
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Unforgivable: harrowing drama about abuse and rehabilitation
The Week Recommends 'Catastrophic impact' of abuse is explored in 'thought-provoking' series
-
The Bad Guys 2: 'kids will lap up' crime caper sequel starring Sam Rockwell and Awkwafina
The Week Recommends 'Wittier and more energetic', this film 'wipes the floor' with the original
-
I Am Giorgia: 'self-serving' yet 'amazing story' of Italy's first female prime minister
The Week Recommends Giorgia Meloni, once a 'short, fat, sullen, bullied girl', explains how she became one of the most powerful people in politics
-
Unforgivable: harrowing drama about abuse and rehabilitation
The Week Recommends 'Catastrophic impact' of abuse is explored in 'thought-provoking' series
-
The Bad Guys 2: 'kids will lap up' crime caper sequel starring Sam Rockwell and Awkwafina
The Week Recommends 'Wittier and more energetic', this film 'wipes the floor' with the original
-
I Am Giorgia: 'self-serving' yet 'amazing story' of Italy's first female prime minister
The Week Recommends Giorgia Meloni, once a 'short, fat, sullen, bullied girl', explains how she became one of the most powerful people in politics
-
The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869–1939
Feature Wrightwood 659, Chicago, through Aug. 2
-
6 classic homes built in the 1950s
Feature Featuring a firehouse-turned-home in Indiana and an award-winning house in Maryland
-
Critics' choice: Delights from the African diaspora
Feature Mahari in Chicago, Kabawa in New York City and Elmina in Washington, D.C.
-
Alex G, Tyler, the Creator and Jessie Murph
Feature "Headlights," "Don't Tap the Glass" and "Sex Hysteria"
-
Film reviews: The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Cloud
Feature A space-age superhero team mounts a redo and Reality catches up with an online reseller