Charing Cross Theatre – until 16 March 2025
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
3***
John Ransom-Phillips’ passionately well-meaning mission to tell the full and fair story of Mary Lincoln’s life has some interesting ideas and themes.
Mrs President explores the struggles and losses Mary (Miriam Grace Edwards) encountered – the death of her children, the assassination of her husband, and her son sending her to an asylum looming large. Framed as a series of sittings with photographer Mathew Brady (Sam Jenkins-Shaw), momentous events in her life are introduced and the effect on her mental health made clear. The scenes jump around in time and Brady takes on the personas of men loudly espousing their misogynistic and blinkered beliefs to Mary before Brady tries another technique to capture his vision of her. The content warnings about attempted suicide, racism, slavery, child loss and mental illness aren’t really needed as each emotive subject is tackled at a brisk pace and with no real depth – just a catalogue of all Mary’s woes without really analysing how and why she was viewed and treated with such disdain.
Much time is spent debating whether the sitter has any agency at all when the photographer can manipulate their image. Brady’s arrogant claims about shaping the image of the men shaping America meaning that it is he who is actually shaping the country are batted back by Mary claiming her identity. Unfortunately, Mary in this play has no real idea of her identity, and her repeated mantra of being looked at but never seen becomes nothing more than a signal that the scene will soon end. The dynamic between sitter and photographer is further discussed by Brady’s camera and sitters’ chair when the actors are offstage. No new ideas are voiced in these bizarre scenes, instead pointlessly rehashing Lincoln and Brady’s arguments. The narrative becomes muddled and cyclical, with the final show of strength from Mary as she suddenly finds clarity not feeling earned or developed after going around in circles for so long.
Miriam Grace Edwards and Sam Jenkins-Shaw do great things with the script. Edwards’ emotional and fearless performance and Jenkins-Shaw’s nuanced portrayal of the driven and arrogant photographer are excellent.
Bronagh Lagan’s direction has some wonderful theatrical flair amongst the incoherent plot, and Ransom-Phillips script could be developed and become something intriguing with dramaturg intervention. Gregor Donnelly’s set allows for beautiful visual flourishes: Derek Anderson’s lighting and Sonum Batra’s sound design make Brady’s movement using his camera and his darkroom almost balletic (movement director Sam Rayner). Matt Powells’ video design also creates some startling moments that portray the pair’s emotional state much more immediately than the repetitive dialogue.
Much like Brady’s photographs, Mrs President is visually impressive but the production is unfocussed and needs further development.