Rosamund Pike on the High-Stakes Balancing Act of Broadway’s Inter Alia

Rosamund Pike holds court on Broadway in Inter Alia, beginning previews at the Music Box Theatre on November 10. The Oscar nominee starred in Suzie Miller’s legal drama during its West End run and reprises her Olivier-winning performance as Jessica Parks, a judge whose relationship to justice becomes complicated when an unthinkable event rocks her family. At a recent press event, the cast and creative team reflected on Inter Alia’s timely themes and impact on audiences.

“It's such an unusual play. It's deeply relatable as a woman,” says Pike. “My character, she's a Crown Court judge, which means a criminal judge. That's a profession that we think maybe we can't relate to. Then you see the play and you think, ‘Oh my God, she's like me.'"

Pike never leaves the stage and is constantly in motion. “This play is a tremendous juggle for any actor. You have to have lightning speed of thought, and there are so many props, costume changes, things to handle and I'm on my own out there. So if something goes wrong, I have to fix it,” Pike says. “I realized that very early on at the National Theatre. Something went wrong and I thought, ‘Oh, wow. I really don't come off stage for another hour and 15 minutes, so I've got to deal with this.’ It's wonderful, and you realize that you've actually got the mental capacity to deal with a problem and continue performing.”

Inter Alia’s director, Justin Martin, previously collaborated with Miller on the Tony-winning one-woman play Prima Facie, which also interrogated gender politics and sexual violence in the legal sphere. “Suzie and I share this weird, naive belief that theater can change the world," he says. "Prima Facie went absolutely insane and has been a massive success for us all and also has become a movement around the world and is really making change within the legal system in the U.K.,” Martin explains, referencing the play’s impact on U.K. court reform and judicial training in Northern Ireland. “So the natural thing for us was, let's do another play and what do we want it to be about? We [wanted] to talk about how we bring up boys.”

“It’s a very moving evening and yet also very funny,” says Jamie Glover, who reprises his role from the West End as Jessica’s husband, Michael Wheatley. “I think that's what she does very well. Suzie is able to wrap up the start of an extremely important conversation. I don't think she'd say she has the answers. All she's doing is asking questions, but in a way which is very accessible. It doesn't feel like a TED Talk.”

Hear more from the cast, including Cormac McAlinden, in the video below!

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