Hugh Quarshie and Susan Sarandon in MARY PAGE MARLOWE. Photo by Manuel Harlan.Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts, Mary Page Marlowe is a vivid portrait of one woman’s extraordinary life, told out of chronological order through a mosaic of disconnected time jumps and snapshots. Matthew Warchus directs Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking, Thelma & Louise) in her UK stage debut and Academy Award nominee Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie, Matilda The Musical), who returns to the stage after 15 years. It’s told through eleven non-linear scenes, with the titular character portrayed by five actresses and a doll.
What are critics saying about Mary Page Marlowe?
The Stage
‘The execution is faultless’
★★★★
Sam Marlowe called the play ‘an elusive piece of writing that changes shape as you stare at it, wriggles away if you try to pin it down.’ He noted, ‘there is a gentle compulsion in watching the peeling away of the layers of identity, the core of which is never quite revealed.’ Overall, he was full of praise: ‘Matthew Warchus’ production, performed by an impeccable cast led by Hollywood royalty Susan Sarandon and Andrea Riseborough, could hardly be more finely calibrated.’
WhatsOnStage
‘A life is compellingly pieced together’
★★★★
Sarah Crompton called the play ‘intriguing’ and praised ‘the truthfulness of the writing – and of the performances.’ ‘All of this is presented in dialogue that is always flexible and full of humour,’ she noted, and commended ‘Matthew Warchus’ fluent, understated direction’. She concluded, ‘But it is the acting, particularly of the Marys, that carries the day’, praising Sarandon’s ‘easy stage presence and command’ and how Riseborough ‘brings all that raw intensity and eyes full of emotion to the scenes where Mary battles with divorce and despair.’
The Evening Standard
‘An elegant, bittersweet ensemble piece’
★★★★
Nick Curtis wrote, ‘Sarandon deftly serves the play and the ensemble rather than dominating the event’, but felt the real scene-stealers were ‘a shifty, slippery Rosy McEwen and a wracked and haunted Andrea Riseborough.’ He thought ‘the play is not as profound as it thinks it is… But it is a subtle and elegantly constructed piece of work.’ On the staging he noted, ‘there’s not much of a set but the costumes – pleated stonewashed jeans, velour track pants, rainbow sneaker-laces – neatly signify era and place.’ His conclusion: ‘Pretty amazing.’
Susan Sarandon in MARY PAGE MARLOWE. Photo by Manuel Harlan.
London Box Office
‘A hotch-potch of momentarily compelling scenes’
★★★
Stuart King pondered, 'The burning question is, why would we want to spend time getting to know [Mary]? The answer isn’t immediately obvious, nor even entirely clear by the end.' He observed that 'breaking the story into non-sequential and episodic elements from the outset, imbues a stylised disjointedness to proceedings' but remained unconvinced: '‘In presenting these human interactions, strengths and frailties, the piece certainly works, but I was left pondering whether it could potentially work more effectively as a movie.’ He concluded that the play '‘ultimately lacks the simmering emotional intensity' of Letts' other work.
The Guardian
‘Susan Sarandon shines in slippery study of a life in pieces’
★★★
‘The play,’ said Arifa Akbar, ‘has many searing scenes, and is highly watchable with always excellent dialogue, but it is not quite so polyphonic or as whole.’ She went on to describe it as ‘beautifully directed’ with ‘magnificent performances from the ensemble’, praising Sarandon in particular, who ‘performs with ease, assurance and total ownership of her character’. Ultimately, however, she was left dissatisfied with the play’s approach to this unique concept: ‘The round shows Mary from all sides, in theory, yet you do not see her clearly at all… The play raises these questions and then lets them fall away, unanswered.’
TimeOut
‘An exquisite corpse of a life story’
★★★
Andrzej Lukowski said, ‘Letts’s script is broadly naturalistic, but also loaded with questions about to what extent our lives are predetermined at birth.’ He called Riseborough ‘great… chewing the scenery, yes, but with nuance and feeling and a devastating arsenal of facial expressions’, while Sarandon ‘has less to get stuck into’ and ‘is tonally adrift from a play that’s mostly about how difficult this woman’s life was - she almost feels like she’s in her own, lower-stakes drama.’ He noted that ‘Warchus’s kitchen-sinky production feels oddly like it’s trying to play down the theatricality of it all’ and concluded, ‘I’m not entirely convinced it pays off.’
The Telegraph
‘Audiences would be forgiven for expecting more’
★★★
Claire Allfree was disappointed that Susan Sarandon is only onstage for approximately 20 minutes: ‘audiences would be forgiven for expecting a bit more bang for their buck.’ She also thought Sarandon was ‘outclassed here by Andrea Riseborough, who plays Mary during her 40s, at more pivotal moments in her life, and who, let’s face it, is given more to do.’ She thought ‘Letts’s play almost entirely comprises superbly written one-on-one encounters that emulate and sometimes become a warped form of confessional, teasing the audience with the prospect that each will contain the revelation that makes sense of the whole.’ ‘I felt I was watching an idea of a woman rather than a real one,' she concluded.
The Independent
‘Susan Sarandon and Andrea Riseborough bring brilliance to a fractured story’
★★★
Alice Saville was impressed by the ‘formidable army of female talent’ in the cast. ‘Sarandon has a winning spikiness and naughtiness as Mary Page’s oldest incarnation,’ she said, while ‘Riseborough is heartrending to watch as a much younger Mary still buried in fresh agony.’ She called the play ‘a fascinating perspective on the disconcertingly discontinuous nature of individual identity.’ But she added, ‘Still, the odd thing about this play is the way it avoids fully lifting the mask on Mary’s inner life. It’s a deliberate choice, but a frustrating one. And it also means that some of the play’s narrative choices start to feel a bit reductive.’
The Times
‘It doesn’t quite add up, but you couldn’t call it dull’
★★★
Dominic Maxwell called Sarandon ‘casually excellent in her three shortish scenes’ and Riseborough ‘outstanding in her three longer scenes’. He approved of the ‘great writing’, but didn't feel it quite delivered: ‘You sit enjoying these moments… waiting in vain for them to add up to something greater than the sum of their parts.’ He noted, ‘Letts wants to let us join the dots for ourselves, but the end result can feel more like a writing exercise than a fully satisfying play.’ His advice to audiences: ‘Best to just enjoy so many beautifully acted, well observed moments along the way from this large and largely female company.’
Andrea Riseborough in MARY PAGE MARLOWE. Photo by Manuel Harlan.
Daily Express
‘A ridiculously good cast are wasted on Tracy Letts' dismally disappointing new play’
★★
Stefan Kyriazis was less impressed: ‘The stunningly underwhelming script delivers thinly-drawn vignettes that by mid-way you sense are going absolutely nowhere, and then just sag downhill, despite jarring flashes of histrionics, to a rather toe-curling final speech.’ He added, ‘The staging, so exciting at first glance, adds nothing to the experience.’ He was full of praise, however, for ‘idol, activist, absolute freaking legend Susan Sarandon’, whom he described as ‘vivid, utterly present and believable as the oldest iteration of the title character’. He called the rest of the cast ‘superb’ as well.
Every review is subjective, based on the reviewer's own preferences and perceptions, so you might enjoy a play that everyone else disliked or hate a play that is universally loved. But experienced theatre critics have a canny eye for identifying what worked well and what didn't in a show, so if you're looking for something new to see, it's always worth reading reviews to get an idea of what to expect. Check out our Reviews page for a wide selection of reviews on all the latest shows, so you can pick out what you'd like to see next.
