Hugh Quarshie and Susan Sarandon in Mary Page Marlowe [Manuel Harlan]

MARY PAGE MARLOWE
The Old Vic Theatre
4 stars

Tracy Letts’ latest play, Mary Page Marlowe (which premiered at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in 2016), spans 70 years, 11 scenes and one life, with the title role performed by five actors.

Letts’ non-linear structure jumps between time periods, introducing us first to Mary (Andrea Riseborough) as she tells her two children she’s leaving their father and moving to Kentucky.

We learn how Mary was damaged by her mother Roberta’s (Eden Epstein) alcoholism and the emotional fallout that followed. Roberta’s troubled marriage casts a long shadow over Mary’s relationships. As a child (Alisha Weir) Mary tries and fails to win her mother’s approval with a song; at 19 (Eleanor Worthington-Cox), she turns to tarot cards with fellow students in search of direction; and at 27 (Rosy McEwan), she attempts to extricate herself from a misguided affair with her boss (Ronan Raftery).

Susan Sarandon is assured as Mary in her final incarnation in her third (and happy) marriage to Andy (Hugh Quarshie) and nearing the end of her life in hospital.

Riseborough rises to the challenge of portraying Mary’s hardest, alcohol-drenched years – the arguments with her husband and children, her deepest sinking.

It’s beautifully staged in-the-round by Matthew Warchus, immersing us in the action. The large cast delivers excellent performances. Even brief appearances – a nurse (Melanie La Barrie), and dry-cleaning attendant (Gilbert Kyem Jnr) – are highly charged.

The play’s elliptical form and numerous scene changes inevitably diffuse some of the tension. We’re given snapshots of a life, while a fully realised portrait hovers just out of reach. Yet it’s satisfying to join up the dots, and every scene of this 100-minute production is immensely watchable.

Until November 1
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