“He won't admit what he did, but I know he knows.”
Why it's great
It splits a public refusal from the private fact she believes he cannot escape.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
My roommate won't admit the rent email exists, but I know she knows.
00:00 / 02:46
00:00 / 02:46
Tessa Is the One on Trial, Explained
National Theatre Live: Prima Facie · 2022
Chapter 15 of 22 · 2'46"
Only she will give evidence across three days, while Julian pleads not guilty and will not be cross-examined. He asks people she knows for letters of support and convinces them she is lying. "I am the one on trial" is the real complaint: he can sit there in silence, and she must relive it in front of everyone.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:11–0:52
❝ Monologue · 8 lines The one on trial
Denial, friendly letters, and the role reversal stack until she is the one the court will test.
40s - 1:09–1:43
❝ Monologue · 5 lines Women May Not Believe Her
34s - 1:58–2:45
She Psyches Herself Up to Enter
47s
Tessa Is the One on Trial, explained
What happens
Tessa waits to be called in. The trial is set down for three days and only she gives evidence, while Julian pleads not guilty. He has people she knows write letters of support and has convinced them she is a liar. Her mother asks if four women on the jury is good. She reads that Mia is doing Shakespeare, psyches herself up, and a police officer calls her in.
What's really going on
Three days, one witness. Julian pleads not guilty, "won't admit what he did," and can sit there without being cross-examined, "knowing he will not have to say a word." She is "forced to say the words" and to "relive it all." He asks people she knows for letters of support, then convinces himself and them that she is a liar. A later line, not those letters, says he believes she is doing this to destroy him and that "he is the victim." Her mother asks if four women on the jury is good. She will not grant that comfort: "women can be just as bad at believing other women." She thinks her mother may know "what it is to be violated" and says "I will never ask." The morning text only says "She's doing Shakespeare." "On a cruise ship?" is her own question. The next line is "Mia is on team Tessa." She psyches herself up, then the officer calls her in.
Key lines & what they mean
- “He won't admit what he did, but I know he knows.”
- She believes he understands what he did and still refuses to admit it in a trial where he pleads not guilty.
- “He has convinced himself that he is the victim.”
- After gathering letters of support, he settles on a story where the harm falls on him, not on her.
- “He did this to me. I am the one on trial.”
- She names the reversal: he did it, yet she is the person who must speak and be judged.
- “I mean, women can be just as bad at believing other women.”
- Asked whether four women on the jury helps, she says women can fail to believe women just as badly as anyone else.
- “'I am not ashamed and I am not a slut.'”
- The outfit from her lawyer's wardrobe has to signal both strength and that she refuses the sexual shame of that word.
Theme
- Justice — Only she gives evidence while he pleads not guilty and will not be cross-examined, so she calls herself the one on trial.
- Lies — He convinces people she knows, through letters of support, that she is a liar and that he is the victim.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level0/8
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“He has convinced himself that he is the victim.”
Why it's great
He has talked a harmed person's role onto himself until the story sounds true.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
He has convinced himself that the mess started with everyone else.
“He did this to me. I am the one on trial.”
Why it's great
The second sentence moves the court's suspicion off him and onto her.
Register
literary
Use it yourself
They moved the deadline. I am the one answering the client.
“I mean, women can be just as bad at believing other women.”
Why it's great
She will not let the number of women on the jury stand in for belief.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
Busy managers can be just as bad at reading a quiet resume.
“'I am not ashamed and I am not a slut.'”
Why it's great
The clothes have to deny shame and a sexual insult in one breath.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
I am not sorry for leaving, and I am not the story they invented.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ The one on trial
He won't admit what he did, but I know he knows. I mean, I know he must know. He's not stupid. He's just convinced himself and all the people he asked to write letters of support for him, people I know. He's convinced himself and them that I'm a liar and I am doing this to destroy him. He has convinced himself that he is the victim. While me, I'm forced to say the words, relive it all in front of everyone. Why? How can he sit there and not be cross-examined? He did this to me. I am the one on trial.
Denial, friendly letters, and the role reversal stack until she is the one the court will test.
❝ No comfort in the women
'Is that good?' me mum asks. I don't know. I mean, women can be just as bad at believing other women. Why is that, eh? Why is that?
She answers her mother's hope with a harder question about women not believing women.
Up next · 16go through with thisThe scene: Up to the Witness StandPeople also search
Questions, then the linesWhy does she say she is the one on trial?
Only she is giving evidence, not Julian. He pleads not guilty and can sit there without being cross-examined, knowing he will not have to say a word. She has to relive it in front of everyone. The line is "He did this to me. I am the one on trial."
Why does he want letters of support?
He asks people she knows to write letters of support for him, and he convinces himself and them that she is a liar. "I am doing this to destroy him" is the motive he assigns to her, not the job those letters are doing.
Does she think four women on the jury will help?
Her mother asks if four is good. She says she does not know, because "women can be just as bad at believing other women."
Is Mia performing Shakespeare on a cruise ship?
The morning text says "She's doing Shakespeare." The next line, "On a cruise ship?", is the speaker's own question. After that she says "Mia is on team Tessa" and feels stronger.