AustLit

'Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings Debut Spotlight feature. For November that debut is Prima Facie by Suzie Miller (Pan Macmillan). Drawn from the internationally acclaimed play, Prima Facie is a propulsive, raw look at the price victims pay for speaking out and the system that sets them up to fail. We spoke to Suzie about her publishing journey and writing practice.' (Introduction)          

'Tessa is a thoroughbred. A young, brilliant barrister. She has worked her way up from a working-class background to be at the top of her game: defending, cross-examining and lighting up the shadows of doubt in any case. Her masterful line of questioning in the courtroom has netted Tessa win after win, freeing men accused of rape and sexual assault. As controversial as it is, this is her job - it's just about the facts and who can game the system.

'Working late one night, Tessa falls into a casual relationship with Julian, a coworker, an attorney who comes from an elite, wealthy family. A light-hearted affair, with a man she admires. She begins to wonder if perhaps there is a future for the two of them.

'One sickening night, though, Julian makes a choice and Tessa finds herself in a position countless women - one in three - have before her. And she's faced with a gut-wrenching, life-changing decision: will she take the stand to testify about her rape, with the full awareness that the system has not been built to protect her?

'Drawn from the internationally acclaimed play, Prima Facie is a propulsive, raw look at the price victims pay for speaking out and the system that sets them up to fail. With breakneck prose and a devastating emotional intensity, this is a novel for our times, by one of Australia's most important writers.' (Publication summary)

'This wasn’t how it was meant to go. 

'A few iPhones, a huge TV and a Socceroos jersey—shove them all in the IKEA bag then drive away as fast as you can. 

'AJ wasn’t meant to be spotted at the scene. AJ wasn’t meant to get ID’d in the line up. AJ definitely wasn’t meant to go to prison. But once AJ is convicted of theft, he is placed behind the walls of an institution where his own body is stolen from him. 

'In a cramped communal cell, AJ will become a ‘jailbaby’—the ward of a justice system that chooses to turn a blind eye to the life-altering sexual violence committed against young men behind bars.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'They can’t bring you down. You can fight. For what you believe. For who, and what, you love.

'It takes a lifetime to build a career with integrity and a single tweet to unravel it. Anna Kay, top rated television journalist, mother and wife is now a news subject herself, and the haters are piling on. Her decision to leave her marriage and pursue a passionate affair with a recent source incites the wrath of the masses and threatens her credibility, all as she prepares to break the biggest story of her career. Truth at all costs, but best stay in your lane.

'Starring Caroline Craig (Underbelly, Blue Heelers), directed by Carissa Licciardello, and written by Suzie Miller (Prima Facie starring Jodie Comer recently on London’s West End), Anna K weaves a breakneck story of romance, power, and tenacity. In a world promising equality and autonomy, why isn’t the fight over?' (Publication summary)

'This is the story of one woman who changed the face of the American legal system.

'Spanning her life from teenage years to her death in 2020, RBG: Of Many, One brings Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s fascinating life vividly to the stage. The second woman to be appointed to the US Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was both a trailblazer in the American legal system and a fierce advocate for gender equality and reproductive rights. RBG: Of Many, One chronicles her wins and dissents; the steps forward, the steps back. It reveals a woman of intellect, courage, determination and feeling; the personal behind the political.

'Award-winning Australian playwright and lawyer, Suzie Miller, continues her interrogation of complex human stories and injustice with this vibrant theatrical portrait of one of the iconic leaders of our time.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'To win, you just need to believe in the rules. And Tessa loves to win, even when defending clients accused of sexual assault. Her court-ordained duty trumps her feminism. But when she finds herself on the other side of the bar, Tessa is forced into the shadows of doubt she’s so ruthlessly cast over other women.

'Winner of the 2018 Griffin Award, Prima Facie is an indictment of the Australian legal system’s failure to provide reliable pathways to justice for women in rape, sexual assault or harassment cases. It’s a work of fiction, but one that could have been ripped from the headlines of any paper, any day of the week, so common you could cry.

'Turning Sydney’s courts of law into a different kind of stage, Suzie Miller’s (Sunset Strip, Caress/Ache) taut, rapid-fire and gripping one-woman show exposes the shortcomings of a patriarchal justice system where it’s her word against his.

'Maybe we need a new system.'

Source: Griffin Theatre Company.

'The Mathematics of Longing is a love story of whimsical delight and earnest gravity; a new work by internationally renowned Australian playwright Suzie Miller, with trailblazing Gold Coast based dance-theatre company, The Farm.'

'At Sunset Strip the only people left are those who couldn't leave. Arriving home after a bout of chemotherapy to this once thriving summer hot-spot, Caroline finds the lake completely dried up, the holiday-makers long gone.

'Yet her younger sister, the ever-optimistic Phoebe, remains doggedly hopeful. Between a stint in rehab, caring for her demented Dad (who has a penchant for training goldfish) and losing her kids temporarily to DOCS, Phoebe has managed to find love in Teddy, a local fallen fella with a big heart. And now that Caroline is back, Phoebe is determined to make life fabulous.' (Publication summary)

'An unexpected passion drags two people through something they don't fully understand. Deliberately experimenting with different forms and concepts, this play is about the vulnerability of the lives we live, and about how for women autonomy and responsibility are always in a state of flux. What does it mean to be partner, mother, careerist and what happens when an unforeseen and forbidden desire is unleashed?'

Source: Queensland Theatre (http://www.queenslandtheatre.com.au/For-Artists/Opportunities/Queensland-Premiers-Drama-Award). (Sighted: 13/07/2016)

'onefivezerosevenopens wide the bedroom doors of Australian teenagers, allowing us into their inner sanctum. A very real look at everything they have, and everything they hope for.

'The crafting of raw content sourced directly from interviews with hundreds of Australian teenagers has culminated in a thrilling, brave and emotionally charged piece of theatre that’s sure to ignite conversations and challenge perceptions.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'There’s a queen, a girl, a huntsman, a mirror, an act of jealousy, a poison apple and a deadly axe. It’s everything you recognise, but nothing you’d expect. 

'When the Queen is faced with the same threat that ignited her own rise to power, she sets out to do anything to protect her throne. She is soon, however, faced with the ugly truth that the real question isn’t how far is she willing to go to maintain her control, but was she ever in control to begin with? We all know the Queen rules the board, but who is playing whom? This version of the classic tale interrogates what it means to be a woman, a girl, a daughter and a mother. It asks us who defines beauty and at what cost do we live a life defined by the gaze of others? 

'This Snow White isn’t a gentle story to lull the children to sleep, but rather a darkly sexual and humorous look into power and who actually wields it.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When Medea fell for Jason, she fell hard. Hard enough to sacrifice everything to be with him. She deceived her father, committed murder, left the comforts of her homeland and bore him two sons.

'So when a power-hungry Jason takes up with a younger woman, Medea’s humiliation quickly turns to revenge and a horrible plan is hatched. Nothing is off limits. No one is safe. Not even the children.

'Acclaimed Australian playwright Suzie Miller’s elegant adaptation will be played in the round, bringing this classic tale of revenge to life.' (Production summary)

'A great wind completely blankets Perth with red dust. Some believe that an apocalypse looms. But for others – a man and his young step-daughter, two strangers stranded in an airport lounge, young lovers in a hotel suite, a bride-to-be watching her white wedding disintegrate – the storm might be a gift.

'A stunning look at the ways in which we love, blame, connect, and find beauty in the chaos of our lives.

'Tender, uplifting and unforgettable, Dust, by acclaimed and dazzling playwright Suzie Miller is about the odysseys we embark on when our worlds turn upside down.' (Production summary)

'A former star surgeon can no longer bear to touch the living. Two voices connect over the phone. A desperate mother begs to embrace her son one last time. An Arabic victim seeks atonement. A young idealistic couple fight to reconnect after infidelity. Disparate lives interweave, intersect, impact and connect. A play for movement and words; where lives turn on the smallest moments of random intimacy.'

Source: Griffin Theatre Company.