Woman in Mind - Review

Duke of York's Theatre, London

*****

Written by Alan Ayckbourn

Directed by Michael Longhurst

Sheridan Smith

Sheridan Smith as Susan in Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind gives one of the finest performances to be found on a London stage. Barely a comedy, the play shows the playwright's deepest, darkest brilliance, his narrative exploring Susan’s descent into psychosis. Smith gives the most harrowing portrayal of a woman whose mind is decaying before our eyes, unable to separate the reality of her own naturally flawed family from the false creations of her illness-oppressed brain.

In what is perhaps Michael Longhurst’s greatest work as a director, Smith captures Susan’s complex fragility with a conviction that seems almost effortless and which belies her acting genius. Onstage throughout, Smith delivers a masterclass in her craft.

The supporting cast are almost as magnificent as their leading lady. Tim McMullan is Gerald, Susan’s husband. A vicar and historian, his loving support for his wife is made all the more poignant when set against her apparent hatred for his professional commitments. Fine work too from Louise Brealey who plays Muriel, Susan’s live-in sister-in-law, whose calamitous catering gives rise to the evening’s few truly comedic moments.

In a heavily promoted stunt-casting, comedian Romesh Ranganathan plays Susan’s doctor, Bill. Albeit an accomplished performer Ranganathan proves the show’s weakest link, lacking the heavyweight chops to tackle a major West End role. As Susan’s imaginary family however, Sule Rimi, Chris Jenks and Safia Oakley-Green are all magnificent. Similarly, and in a comparatively tiny role, Taylor Uttley as Susan and Gerald’s son Rick adds an exquisitely painful layer of emotional agony to his mother’s tragedy.

Technically outstanding, Soutra Gilmour’s set enhanced by Andrzej Goulding’s subtly haunting video projections, delivers a beautiful creation of an English garden. Paul Arditti’s sound design proves to be another of the production’s ingenious treats.

In a performance that demands to be recognised at the Olivier Awards, Sheridan Smith makes Woman In Mind unmissable.

Runs until 28th February in London

Then touring:

4 – 7 MARCH 2026

Sunderland Empire, High Street West, Sunderland SR1 3EX

10 – 14 MARCH 2026

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 282 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3Q

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Antony and Cleopatra - Review

National Theatre, London


****


Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Simon Godwin

Sophie Okonedo and Ralph Fiennes

It’s all very well for director Simon Godwin to project his Antony and Cleopatra into the modern era but for one gaping hole in the logic. Whilst the costumes and the weaponry (Kalashnikovs, really?) may be 21st Century, neither the Italy nor the Egypt of today, save for their respective antiquities, resemble anything like their illustrious glories from millennia past. This play skips over the inconvenient modernities that Italy is broken and Egypt impoverished, but misquoting Mark Twain, why let the facts get in the way of a good story?

And truly, this is a ripping yarn. As “a pair so famous”, Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo are the titular magnificents. Perfectly cast, Fiennes the grizzled, patrician warrior Antony bears a love for Cleopatra that is almost tangible in its devotion. As much as Fiennes brings an impasssioned wisdom to his role, so too does Okonedo command the stage with a powerful petulance, their mutual, eternal devotion well elicited by Godwin.

There is fine supporting work too. Tim McMullan’s Enobarbus is a work of art in itself, his description of Cleopatra’s Royal Barge and of her beauty, delivered with a rarely encountered richness. In a neat gender-twist, Katy Stephens takes on Agrippa, creating a brief but plausible chemistry with Enobarbus as she outlines her plans for Antony’s wedding to Octavia, while in Cleopatra’s court, Gloria Obianyo is a touching Charmian.

The technical values of the production offer up our National Theatre at its very best. Michael Bruce’s music (delivered beautifully by the side-staged 5 piece band) draws from a variety of themes, with just a delicious hint of Ron Goodwin too during a military moment. 

Hildegard Bechtler’s set design proves to be a veritable chocolate box of surprises. Making fine use of the Olivier’s drum revolve (even if some of the below level scene-shifting could be quieter) Bechtler effortlessly shifts the action to and fro across the Mediterranean, even creating an ornate pond in Cleopatra’s palace. Elsewhere, in place of his originally scripted galley,  Pompey (Sargon Yelda) is given a submarine from which to command his fleet. And a nod to the heart-warmingly cute (and non-venomous) milk snake, called upon to double as an asp, which comes close to stealing the final scene!

At three and a half hours all in Antony and Cleopatra is a long haul, but with Fiennes and Okonedo making Shakespeare’s verse sing, there are moments here to be savoured.

Runs until 19th January 2019 in repertory

To be screened via NTLive on 6th December

Photo credit: Johan Persson