Photo: Manuel Harlan
Cole Escola’s new play Oh, Mary! has been delighting audiences on Broadway for a couple of years now – picking up a pair of Tony Awards in the process – and we’re delighted that it has now opened here in London. A brilliantly irreverent – and not entirely historically accurate – look at the life and times of Mary Todd Lincoln, it’s now playing at the Trafalgar Theatre.
We don’t want to say too much about the show’s narrative – part of the joy is not knowing what happens, as it’s wildly unpredictable – but this is a play very much about Mary (played wonderfully by Mason Alexander Park). So much so, in fact, that the rest of the characters in the programme are referred to simply by their relationship to Mary: Giles Terera is Mary’s Husband, who also happens to be the President of the US; the unreasonably attractive Dino Fetscher plays Mary’s Teacher; Kate O’Donnell is Mary’s Chaperone and Oliver Stockley is Mary’s Husband’s Assistant.
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The play is delightfully queer and an absolute hoot from start to finish. Centre stage is Mason Alexander Park – who starred in Cabaret on the West End a few years ago, and more recently played supporting roles in the Jamie Lloyd productions of The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing – and they are very much the star of the show here. Mason has a commanding stage presence, with exquisite physical comedy and expert comic timing. The supporting cast are strong, too; we particularly appreciated Giles Terera, who we’ve seen play many more serious roles – it’s a joy seeing him play a part as ridiculous as this.
Will Oh, Mary! land in the same way here as it has in New York? Well, that remains to be seen. Of course, the Lincolns aren’t as revered in the UK as they are in the US, and Mary Todd Lincoln is not a well-known historical figure here – although don’t let that stop you, as pretty much all the events of the play are fictitious. If you’re looking for something to fight the January blues (quite literally, as this Mary seems rather confrontational) then this ridiculously camp new comedy is well worth checking out.
GAY TIMES gives Oh, Mary! – 4/5
More information can be found here.
