Mrs Lincoln Goes Off Script

Oh Mary | Trafalgar Theatre until 25 April

Mrs Lincoln steals the spotlight — as a bold and brilliantly performed absurdist comedy arrives in the West End

This is not a history lesson. Yes, it’s about Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln. Yes, it acknowledges that small historical detail about the assassination at Ford’s Theatre. But beyond that, historical accuracy is gleefully abandoned.

Instead, we get Mary reimagined as a loud, needy, alcohol-fuelled woman who dreams not of political influence, but of becoming a cabaret star. That’s the joke. And the engine.

Lincoln is attempting to hold a nation together during the Civil War. Mary wants better lighting and a stronger eleven o’clock number.

It is Theatre of the Absurd by way of pantomime, drag and Broadway farce. The script begins at full volume and rarely dips below it. At 80 minutes with no interval, it barrels forward like an express train. And yet, what surprised me most this time was the control.

The show began off-Broadway before transferring to Broadway, where it became an unlikely hit and picked up major awards attention. I saw it in New York and found it relentless. Very funny. But relentless. Here at the Trafalgar Theatre, the comedy breathes.

There are still pratfalls. Still outrageous one-liners. Still moments so absurd they border on the surreal. The programme famously lists characters only as “Mary’s Husband”, “Mary’s Teacher”, “Mary’s Chaperone”, preserving a particularly delicious casting surprise. But in this production, the quieter beats are allowed to land. That matters.

Absurd comedy only works if it’s played truthfully. However ridiculous the premise, the stakes must feel real to the performer. Mason Alexander Park understands that. The physicality is extraordinary, elastic, precise, and gloriously unselfconscious. The timing is razor-sharp. But underneath the chaos is something grounded: a desperate need to be seen.

That’s what elevates it beyond sketch comedy. I must also mention Dino Fetscher as Mary’s “Teacher”, a role that spirals steadily into mania. It’s carefully charted, never simply thrown away. The escalation feels crafted rather than chaotic.

The piece taps into queer performance traditions, drag, camp exaggeration, identity play, while simultaneously skewering American myth-making. It takes one of the most sanctified chapters of US history and gleefully smears lipstick all over it.

Will it be for everyone? Absolutely not. If you’re looking for respectful historical drama, look elsewhere. If you enjoy absurdism, bold comic performances and the sense that a show might tip gloriously off the rails at any moment, this is your ticket.

But here’s the thing. For all its invention, I’m still not entirely convinced it adds up to much more than an exceptionally well-performed comic vehicle. It skewers American myth-making, certainly. It plays gleefully with queer performance traditions. It dismantles reverence. Yet once the laughter settles, the aftertaste is lighter than you might expect.

Great absurdist theatre often leaves you laughing and slightly unsettled. Here, I laughed a great deal. I’m not sure I felt the second part strongly enough.

However, not every show needs to deliver a thesis. Sometimes theatrical joy is justification in itself. And in an era of very serious theatre, there is something refreshing about a piece that simply wants to be outrageous and funny – and succeeds.

What tips it firmly into four-star territory is the calibre of performance. Mason Alexander Park gives the role scale, craft and precision. Dino Fetscher charts his character’s descent with impressive control. The company understands exactly what game they’re playing.

Would I see it again? Yes, as I would like to see the current cast before Catherine Tate takes over the central role of Mary. It seems likely that the play will repeat its Broadway success by having a rotating cast of different Marys to lure us back!

And perhaps that, more than any theoretical argument, is the truest measure of its success.

This Broadway hit lands triumphantly in the West End. Absurd, camp and unapologetically silly, it’s elevated by precise performances and surprising control beneath the chaos. Not for purists, but undeniably entertaining.

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