How Now Brown Cow Presents
The South African Premiere
PRIMA FACIE
SEASONS
The Baxter Studio
4 to 29 August 2026
The Market Theatre
(In Association with the Market Theatre)
16 September to 11 October 2026
Niel Coppen
Director
Neil Coppen is a renowned and prolific storyteller and theatre-maker hailing from Kwa-Zulu Natal . Coppen has won several major awards for his writing, design and direction work including Standard Bank Ovation Awards, Naledi’s, Fiesta and Kanna Awards, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Drama 2011 and the 2019 Olive Schreiner Prize for Drama.
Some of Coppen’s most acclaimed theatre works (taught in schools and universities locally and internationally) include Tin Bucket Drum (Published by Wits University Press), Tree Boy, Abnormal Loads (published by Junkets) and NewFoundLand (published by Junkets) and his adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm toured South Africa for over five-years to sold out seasons. He also directed an acclaimed online reimagining of Hamlet in 2023.
In 2014 Coppen co-founded the multi award-winning research based theatre company Empatheatre alongside Mpume Mthombeni and Dylan Mcgarry and has worked consistently as the companies head dramaturg and director on the productions Soil & Ash, Ulwembu, The Last Country , Boxes, Lalela Ulwandle, Umkhosi Wenala and Unruly starring Andrew Buckland.
In 2022 Coppen alongside visual artist Vaughn Sadie and in collaboration with a community of Oudtshoorn based arts practitioners founded The Karoo Kaarte project (supported by the KKNK). Karoo Kaarte is a large-scale public participative storytelling and archiving project whose theatre productions Op Hierie Dag (2022) Droomkraan Kronieke (2023), Die Swartmerrie (2024) and Kroon en Konfetti (2025) have won several Kanna and Fiesta awards.
Coppen recently co-wrote and directed Empatheatre’s hit play Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater which premiered at NAF 2022 and is currently touring both locally and internationally. He is currently a research associate at the University of Johannesburg.
How Now Brown Cow also proudly presents the South African premiere of Suzie Miller’s award-winning Prima Facie directed by celebrated theatre maker Neil Coppen (Isidlamlilo/TheFire Eater; Animal Farm; Tin Bucket Drum). Danica de la Rey Jones (Hunting Jessica Brok; Unseen; For Colored Girls) performs the role of Tessa, a brilliant young barrister, who climbs her way up from working class origins to the top of her game: defending, cross examining and winning.
Tessa believes in the legal system until a brutal attack turns her world upside down as she navigates the same system she once championed. Now put on trial herself, re-traumatized through her cross-examination, she finds herself questioning everything she believed about justice.
Prima Facie is a hard-hitting look at the "patriarchal power of the law" where the burden of proof and existing rules of evidence often work against victims of sexual violence.
The 2022 London production of the show was nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, with wins for Best New Play and Best Actress for Jodie Comer, who subsequently won a Tony Award for the same role on Broadway in New York.
Danica de la Rey Jones
Tessa
Danica de la Rey Jones is a magnetic force in the South African film industry, rapidly becoming one of the country’s most bankable international exports. A rare "natural" talent with over a decade of industry experience, Danica has built a career defined by high-stakes performances and an unflinching emotional range.
Her transition from arthouse darling to commercial powerhouse was cemented with her lead role in the action feature Hunting Jessica Brok. Performing her own grueling fight choreography with only two weeks of prep, Danica proved herself as a high-octane physical performer. The film’s success, securing a 100-cinema North American release alongside UK and European distribution, highlights her cross-continental appeal and ability to carry a major commercial franchise.
Whether she is commanding the screen as the complex villain "TK" in Netflix’s Unseen (Season 2) or captivating audiences on stage in James Ngcobo’s For Colored Girls, Danica’s presence is undeniable. From her raw debut in the festival-favorite Aya to her current status as a leading action star, she remains a fearless, versatile artist who delivers both critical acclaim and global commercial viability.
“Why am I the one on trial?”
— Tessa (Prima Facie)
The Team
