A play which all too often feels like a stern lecture rather than a natural exploration of the characters: not even a superb performance by Keala Settle can save it.Rating
OK
Mrs President was initially staged at Charing Cross Theatre twelve months ago, to a largely lukewarm response. Now it’s back with the promise that this is a newly reimagined production, which has undergone a lot of work. Unfortunately, this take on the life of Mary Lincoln still needs a good deal more if it has any chance of reaching a wider audience.
Jumping through various time periods, Mary Lincoln (Keala Settle) wants to be photographed by Mathew Brady (Hal Fowler), the world’s first celebrity photographer, but the president’s wife is never happy with what he produces. This leads to a selection of very dry exchanges of ideas on the nature of identity, representation, celebrity and fame – yet it rarely feels like either character cares about anything the other says.
When we first meet Mary, she’s full of the joys of life and wearing a rather stunning dress, although it’s quickly apparent this is only so the nature of fashion can be clumsily addressed, both in relation to clothing and to human behaviour. After this, thematically the production tumbles from one idea to the next without a great deal of consistency, and even becomes slightly confusing when Fowler starts performing other characters with only a very minor alteration in his voice.
Settle is stunning in the lead role: it’s a powerhouse performance which allows Mary to explode with emotions as the normally cold and distant Mathew watches on. She’s so good that if you have money to burn, you may not regret purchasing a ticket. But, due to the combination of some very modern language and overly polite 19th-century discourse, the play often fails to feel authentic, and so, despite some superb acting, it’s an unsatisfying creation.
In certain sequences, the work suddenly shines its spotlight on Mathew and flirts with portraying him as an amalgamation of a theatrical impresario and a manipulative magician. There’s some very clever lighting to highlight his methods, and a manipulative soundtrack that feels a little too obtrusive, but each time it sits uneasily with the investigation of Mary’s life, and some monologues seem to exist only to allow Settle a costume change.
An often bleak affair which mostly concentrates on the more miserable times in Lincoln’s life, there’s just far too much telling the audience what these characters are like rather than showing us. Settle really is remarkable in the titular role, and perhaps if it undergoes more revisions, the script may one day match that. Right now, it’s a very stodgy encounter with this normally fascinating historical figure.
Written by John Ransom Phillips
Directed by Bronagh Lagan
Produced by Art Pond Foundation
Mrs President runs at Charing Cross Theatre until Sunday 8 March
