Jodie Comer and Prima Facie will prove the vital power of the nation’s theatres

Today marks a huge win for regional venues: Hollywood star and national sensation Jodie Comer will be touring to nine venues in Suzie Miller’s cracking solo play Prima Facie. 

Kudos can be dished out to all parties – to Comer, to the programming venues, and to producers Empire Street. It’s hard not to see this as an absolute win – how many times has a Tony-winning star returned to a role in order to visit cities like Dublin, York, Birmingham or Liverpool?

It feels, to some extent, like a throwback to the days of touring repertory theatre – where the leading lights like Gielgud or O’Toole would pop up in regional powerhouse venues for stately revivals of classic texts.

But Miller’s play isn’t just a blistering hour of live performance – it has sparked a national movement to highlight the ways in which consent and sexual offences are both taught and treated in society. Empire Street’s partnerships with the Schools Consent Project and Everybody’s Invited initiatives have taken the themes of the play beyond the auditorium and out into the community beyond. The production’s relentless drive to engender change has even seen it used to help train judiciary in Northern Ireland (it’s now a mandatory watch for all newly appointed judges), while there have been screenings for police officers across the UK.

Only once in a blue moon does a production manage to exit the theatre bubble and enter a national discourse – it feels as though Prima Facie has succeeded in managing that – amplified in turn by National Theatre Live’s box office smash screenings and streaming spells on National Theatre at Home.

The new tour goes a step further. This week comes five years after venues were shuttered by the Covid lockdowns – and in the intervening period, regional producing houses have been rocked by wavering audience interests, cost-of-living crises and cuts to local funding. Plays like Prima Facie, and stars like Comer, are a vital reminder of the powerful force theatre can be within a community – and the change it can cause.

Having an award-winning Hollywood star at your local venue suddenly makes it the coolest place in town. Mailing lists will get a boost, interests should be piqued – especially among a younger demographic. Let’s hope that more stars follow Comer’s lead in 2026.