Inter Alia: Rosamund Pike puts justice in the dock

Inter Alia | in cinemas via NT Live

This powerful new drama, also screening in cinemas, comes from Suzie Miller (the writer of Prima Facie) and director Justin Martin. At its heart is Rosamund Pike’s Jessica Parks, a charismatic Crown Court judge juggling high-profile cases, a secret karaoke passion and a busy family life.

The National Theatre bills this as a companion piece to Prima Facie, and it shows: under Miller’s pen the legal system and personal ethics collide, but through Jessica’s eyes rather than a barrister’s. Pike is electrifying as Jessica, a rock-star judge who one moment bangs down her gavel and the next belts Madonna with equal fervour. Jamie Glover and Jasper Talbot co-star as her smug husband Michael and their troubled son Harry, grounding the upheaval in a very modern family dynamic.

Every element of Inter Alia is designed to keep us hooked. Martin’s staging is as kinetic as Miller’s script: live guitar and drum beats punctuate scenes, even a touch of karaoke, and Pike herself is almost always on stage, in constant motion, levelling courtrooms with authority, then sprinting upstairs to prep dinner. Miriam Buether’s set and Natasha Chivers’ lighting stretch the Lyttelton space into multiple worlds, a courtroom, a cluttered kitchen, a school hallway, with video projections expanding these spaces further. Quiet moments of Jessica’s direct address flow seamlessly into naturalistic family scenes as Pike fluidly shifts gears.

Riffing once again on Prima Facie themes, Inter Alia never dials down the ambition. Miller forces Jessica to confront a harsh reality: a case involving her own son threatens to flip her world. The tension comes as much from Pike’s tour-de-force as from Glover and Talbot, who add genuine weight to supporting roles. By construction it’s a high-wire drama about justice, parenthood and personal fallibility, but it never feels like a lecture. The play manages to be both conceptual and entertaining, polished yet heartfelt.

Verdict: A high-wire courtroom drama brimming with energy and heart.

For full biographies and credits, see the production’s cast and creatives listing here.

[Image Credits | Manuel Harlan]

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