Inter Alia is a new play by Suzie Miller, the writer that brought us Prima Facie. This new play keeps the legal system at its heart again but this time the focus is on Jessica Parks, a female judge in the Crown court who is juggling her busy professional life along with being a wife and a mother to her son Harry. She prides herself as being a judge where survivors of sexual assault are treated with dignity in her court room, that is until accusations land closer to home and Jessica Parks tries to separate the professional from the personal.

The story telling by Miller is riveting, the audience quickly feel as if they know and understand Jessica and throughout the show it is littered with moments you could discuss for an age, everything from the discussion around what the survivor of sexual assault was wearing through to the fact that it is Jessica who is left to pick her her son when he was younger and ill despite being in court that day. It is an astute reflection of the patriarchy and one that makes you think about why rather than just stating facts.

The format of the show throws Jessica from one time and location to the next, with flashbacks to her bringing up her son at various stages of his life, from loosing him in the park through to having to discuss porn with him and equally we see the present day her in court, her hosting a dinner party all of which provide points of reflection when the story unravels as well as hammering home the point that her friend makes to her “You live like you work, everything is done at speed.’

The direction by Justin Martin is inspired, Rosammund Pike as Jessica Parks fronts much of the show as if she is the front woman in a band, a rock star, as if the court is her stage and the onstage guitar and drums add to this feeling and the direction by Martin leans into this. He cleverly engineers the show so that it feels like it revolves around Pike, ensuring that costume changes, prop collection and more are perfectly positioned to keep her as the focal point throughout.

Pike is unflinching as Parks and she succeeds in ensuring that the audience feel like that are her friend and confidant, and that she is easily believable in this role. She commands the stage and barely stops for breath as she changes from her judge’s robes to an apron, into her dinner party dress back into office attire whilst the audience begin to understand the different sides to her character.

Unlike Prima Facie this is not a one person show. Jamie Glover plays Michael Wheatley, Jessica’s husband who is a KC but not been appointed to the bench unlike his wife. He becomes a source of frustration in his blasé approach as to how much Jessica has to juggle yet the scene between the 2 of them where he discusses just how difficult it is to talk to his son about the expectations on young men as his experience was so different really hits home and is one of the most memorable scenes in the play. Joining Pike and Glover is Jasper Talbot as their son Harry, who initially cuts a sympathetic character as we hear from Pike about how he was bullied and the difficulties he had fitting in. Cleverly throughout the show we don’t hear much from Harry himself, only his mothers perception of him which makes the final few scenes even more powerful. This is also where Talbot comes into his own, delivering a breath taking final scene with Pike.

The set design by Miriam Buether is inspired and as the show becomes darker and what Jessica knows to be true starts crumbling around her so does the set, what starts as a pristine kitchen gives way to a solitary dark office and this in turn becomes the woods that she lost Harry in years ago, the footprint of the set growing as the show unravels yet creating a feeling that we are seeing more and more intimate thoughts. The detail presented by Buether is also fascinating, she plays into the symbolism through her costumes and Harry’s every present yellow coat long with the colours of Pike’s judges robes and her apron being in sync.

Theatre is great when it makes you feel something but it is a rare piece that can make you feel this much and so strongly. Frustrated at the English Legal system, worried for young men growing up in toxic environments, exasperated at the emotional labour of women and devastated for women who have had their lives torn apart by similar sexual assault only to have to face what is depicted in the show. Inter Alia is a show that leaves you with questions instead of answers but questions provoke conversation and this is a topic that needs to be discussed.

Inter Alia is on at The National Theatre until 13th September. You can find out more and book tickets here. You can also buy the play here.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Witness for The Prosecution, Stereophonic and The Daughter of Time.