“How they hate me.”
Por qué es buena
Four words turn a front-row stare into hate and then refuse to explain or plead.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
How they dismiss me whenever the relatives sit down to eat.
00:00 / 02:15
00:00 / 02:15
Up to the Witness Stand, Explained
National Theatre Live: Prima Facie · 2022
Capítulo 16 de 22 · 2'15"
She walks in, bows, and climbs to the witness stand to swear "the whole truth and nothing but the truth." From the dock, a shake of the head replaces the apology she expects: "What have you done?" Under the oath sits another question: whether she will go through with this.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:27–1:03
A Head Shake Instead of Sorry
36s - 1:10–2:02
❝ Monólogo · 5 frases The Only Woman in the Room
51s - 1:40–2:02
❝ Monólogo · 5 frases Why she is still here
The question opens a list of costs, and the list answers by refusing to leave.
21s
Up to the Witness Stand, explained
What happens
A woman walks into court to give her evidence. She bows, makes her way up to the witness stand, and swears to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Julian's family sits up front. Julian is in the dock. The jury are strangers, the judge looks at his laptop, and she sees she is the only woman in the room.
What's really going on
The surface is procedure: bow, walk, oath, and a look around the room. "How they hate me" lands before any question, aimed at Julian's parents and brother in the gallery. Julian does not mouth an apology. The shake of his head replaces it with "What have you done?" She looks to the jury, "these strangers," and says they will be the ones, while the judge is still reading a file. Then she counts: judge, clerk, prosecuting counsel, police, instructing solicitor, usher, all men. "I am the only woman." The oath asks for the whole truth. The monologue also carries "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" The lines do not say who asks. After the snide and embarrassed looks, the statements, the rape kit, and the nightmares, she is still there: "I am here. I am right here." She has called upon the system she dedicated her life to. The prosecutor stands to open the case.
Key lines & what they mean
- “How they hate me.”
- Julian's father, mother, and brother are up front in the gallery. This is her read of their faces before she has given any evidence.
- “I look at the jury. They will be the ones, these strangers.”
- The strangers on the jury, not the judge looking at his laptop, will be the ones who decide.
- “I am the only woman. Even the court usher is a man!”
- She has listed the judge, clerk, prosecuting counsel, police, and instructing solicitor. Even the usher is a man.
- “'Are you sure you want to go through with this?'”
- It asks whether she will finish what she already started. The lines never say who asks. Snide looks, a rape kit, and nightmares are already behind her, and she is still in the witness box.
- “I am here. I am right here.”
- After the nightmares and the vomiting, she is physically in the witness box. The repeat is the fact she answers with.
Theme
- Justice — She swears the whole truth and calls upon that system to find the truth and provide justice.
- Power — She counts judge, clerk, counsel, police, solicitor, and usher, and finds she is the only woman.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel0/8
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“I look at the jury. They will be the ones, these strangers.”
Por qué es buena
She places the decision with people she has never met, and the word strangers chills it.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
They will be the ones, these three managers, who sign the budget.
“I am the only woman. Even the court usher is a man!”
Por qué es buena
Naming the usher, the least powerful man in the room, makes the all-male court feel total.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
I am the only engineer here. Even the intern is from marketing.
“'Are you sure you want to go through with this?'”
Por qué es buena
It is a quiet offer to quit, asked only after the worst has already been paid.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
Are you sure you want to go through with selling the shop this month?
“I am here. I am right here.”
Por qué es buena
The second here, with right in it, plants her in the room after every reason to vanish.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
Stop the rumor. I am right here, still on the night shift.
Monólogo
Un personaje sostiene la escena: practícalo entero❝ The room is all men
Bar table, bench. Panic. All the barristers are men! The judge, the judge's clerk, the prosecuting counsel, the police, the instructing solicitor. I am the only woman. Even the court usher is a man! I am the only one – the only woman. I can feel my heart thumping, the blood actually rushing through me.
The list of roles narrows until the room itself is the accusation, and the heartbeat lands it.
❝ Why she is still here
'Are you sure you want to go through with this?' After all the snide and embarrassed looks at work, the doubts people have expressed about me, the statements, the rape kit, the ongoing scouring of my own body, the nightmares, the vomiting, the digging into my own flesh, I am here. I am right here.
The question opens a list of costs, and the list answers by refusing to leave.
Siguiente · 17put it down toLa escena: Tessa Runs into JulianPreguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhy does Julian shake his head?
She expects him to mouth "I'm sorry." Instead the shake of his head says "What have you done?" The apology does not arrive.
Why is she the only woman there?
She looks at the bar table and the bench and panics. The judge, his clerk, the prosecuting counsel, the police, the instructing solicitor, and even the court usher are men.
Who does she believe will decide?
The jury. She calls them "these strangers" and says they will be the ones. The judge is looking at a file on his laptop.
What has she already been through before standing there?
Snide and embarrassed looks at work, doubts, statements, a rape kit, nightmares, vomiting, and digging into her own flesh. She still says, "I am here. I am right here."