Oh, Mary!

Trafalgar Theatre

Booking until 25th April 2026

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Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Telling the tale of America’s first lady, Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd (Mason Alexander Park), but not as you know it. Instead of an educated and elegant woman, this Mary is quite literally the polar opposite. She is crass, eccentric and a foul-mouthed alcoholic. In fact, even Abraham (Giles Trera) can hardly stand Mary, claiming the fact that she is worse than the American Civil War. If this doesn’t sum up his relationship with his wife, then I don’t know what does.

An incredible high camp comedy play written by Cole Escola, it turns Mary Todd’s character completely upside down, fuelled by her obsession over alcohol. All she ever wanted is to resume her career as a hugely successful cabaret actress (only she wasn’t successful and her career probably wasn’t even long enough to even be called a career). The writing is witty and clever, setting the tone on what this play is meant to be from the get go, a chaotic, witty and unhinged comedy.

For anybody who has somehow missed all of the warning signs and go into this play thinking you’ll get a historically accurate story, spoiler alert, you won’t. The show quite literally opens with Abrahma running into his study trying to locate and hide a bottle of booze from Mary. Whether it is Mary’s take on Shakespeare, her chaperone, Louise’s (Kate O’Donnell) obsession over ice cream on her private part, Lincoln’s homosexual affair with his assistant, Simon (Oliver Stockley), or Mary’s acting teacher, John Wilkes Booth (Dino Fetscher)’s failed acting career, there is something in it for everybody.

From a direction and creative perspective, the show is staged as very distinct scenes, with lights cut and companied with a unique melody as we transition between scenes, which also add their own comedic twist to an already hilarious show. Each character’s entrance and line serve to pile on the humour, culminating in an epic finale that defies all that we know about Lincoln’s assassination.

Each of the actor are fully committed and embraced the ridiculousness of their character. Park in particular, is able to portray the character with overwhelming vigour, and as the manifestation of chaos, dials the slapstick through the roof and instigate howls of laughter with their every line. The fact that Park played the role of Emcee in Cabaret at the Playhouse Theatre adds another layer of humour to this as they have actually been a cabaret actor previously!

Whether you are into verbal or physical comedy, Oh, Mary! has something in store for everyone (unless you are not into fun, then god help you) as this is likely to be the most chaotic and unhinged show of the season in London’s West End.  

Creatives

Writer: Cole Escola

Director: Sam Pinkleton

Scenic Design: DOTS

Costume Design: Holly Pierson

Lighting Design: Cha See

Sound Design: Daniel Kluger, Drew Levy

Wig Design: Leah J. Loukas

Original music: Daniel Kluger