Oh, Mary! is the uproarious Tony Award‑winning comedy by American playwright and performer Cole Escola, which premiered off‑Broadway in early 2024 before transferring to Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre that July, becoming one of the season’s most acclaimed new works. The play has earned major accolades, including multiple Tony Awards — among them Best Leading Actor in a Play for Escola and Best Direction of a Play — as well as Drama League Awards, a special citation from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, and recognition as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Now celebrating its West End premiere at London’s Trafalgar Theatre, Oh, Mary! gives UK audiences their first chance to experience this bold, irreverent hit on stage.
Directed by Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! follows the miserable, suffocated First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Trapped by expectation, social convention, and her proximity to power, Mary spirals into frustration and obsession as she yearns for recognition, freedom, and something more than the role history has assigned her. The result is a wildly irreverent reimagining that uses heightened comedy to interrogate repression, ambition, and the performance of femininity under relentless public scrutiny.
The West End cast features Mason Alexander Park (Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Deaf West’s American Idiot, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Netflix’s The Sandman) as Mary Todd Lincoln; Kate O’Donnell (Big Girl’s Blouse, You’ve Changed, Twelfth Night) as Mary’s Chaperone; Oliver Stockley (Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends: A Celebration, The Great Gatsby) as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant; Dino Fetscher (The Normal Heart, Torch Song, As Is) as Mary’s Teacher; and Giles Terera — an Olivier Award winner known for originating Aaron Burr in Hamilton, as well as roles in Othello and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom — as Mary’s Husband.
Though the cast numbers only six, they are, by the gods, mighty. Oliver Stockley gives a hilarious performance as the young and innocent Husband’s Assistant. Hugely embraced by the audience for his wonderfully put‑upon nature, Stockley is charming, endearing, and thoroughly entertaining for all the right reasons. As Mary’s long‑suffering Chaperone, Kate O’Donnell is absolutely brilliant. Frequently leaving the audience in stitches, she endures Mary’s behaviour until she simply can’t take any more, culminating in a scene‑stealing moment where a single look sends the room into uproarious laughter. Dino Fetscher is perfectly cast as Mary’s Teacher, matching her energy beat for beat. His wickedly sharp performance, impeccable comic timing, and ability to spar with the surrounding madness make the role land beautifully. Giles Terera is sensational as Mary’s Husband — truthfully corrupt in mind, body, and spirit. It’s a wildly entertaining turn, and perhaps my favourite depiction of the man to date (with Vampire Hunter coming a close second). Mason Alexander Park, as Mary Todd Lincoln, is a revelation. Delivering a tour‑de‑force performance in one of the most energetic and gloriously madcap roles ever written, Park oozes demon‑twink energy; their Mary is everything I hoped for and more — utterly captivating while delightfully unhinged.
We are living in a moment where hard‑won LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under threat, with visibility, safety, and autonomy challenged across the world. In this climate, theatre continues to play a crucial role in bearing witness and offering affirmation. Works within the same cultural lexicon — The Boys in the Band, Angels in America, Torch Song Trilogy, and, on this side of the pond, My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?), among many others — have long provided queer audiences with recognition, solidarity, and hope. Oh, Mary! now stands alongside these plays, reclaiming historical and cultural narratives that have traditionally erased or simplified queer experience and reshaping them through humour and audacity via a queer lens. Whether encountered as a revival or an original production, each retelling reminds us that change has been fought for over decades, and that the message still rings true: we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re not going anywhere.
Oh, Mary! is a triumph — unapologetically alive from start to finish. Now playing at the Trafalgar Theatre, this West End premiere is fearless, hilarious, and full of bite. London has been waiting for this play, and tickets are already going fast. Book now to see Mary and her bratty curls in all their glorious chaos.
It runs until 25 April. Tickets: here.
Review: Stuart James Photos: Manuel Harlan