'Mary Page Marlowe' review — Susan Sarandon makes a vivid London stage debut in this deeply poignant play

Read our review of Tracy Letts's drama Mary Page Marlowe, now in performances at the Old Vic to 1 November.

Summary

• Tracy Letts explores one woman's life through fascinating snapshots in his play Mary Page Marlowe
• Oscar winner Susan Sarandon and Andrea Riseborough are excellent as two versions of Mary
• The strong ensemble cast also features Alisha Weir and Eleanor Worthington-Cox

At 79 years young, Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon has chosen the Old Vic to make her vivid London stage debut in Tracy Letts’s quietly affecting and deeply poignant play Mary Page Marlowe.

Set over 70 years, we follow 11 non-chronological scenes from Mary’s life, with the character played by five different actors. Some events are seismic, some are mundane. They come together to form an impression of Mary as a person; her wavy auburn hair remains similar, but each life stage highlights how she changes.

We first meet Mary aged 40, breaking the news of her divorce to her children. Through the following scenes, we learn that Mary had unhappy parents; she becomes an alcoholic and raises a drug-addict son. She marries several times and is frequently unfaithful.

These snapshots are not always flattering or happy, and much is left unsaid and unexplored. Perhaps she went to prison for drink-driving and it’s hinted that she had an abortion in college. Letts presents pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that make up Mary’s life, not the whole picture. This disjointed approach can be challenging as Letts offers up a whisper of truth, then sometimes snatches it away. But many will recognise how memories are often fragmented and that we rarely know the full story of someone’s life.

Despite the star billing, this is a strong ensemble piece. Andrea Riseborough, who returns to the stage after 15 years, is blisteringly raw as Mary at 40, 44 and 50. She almost vibrates with unhappy tension, frequently exploding with visceral rage and frustration as she struggles with alcoholism and her fracturing family.

At 27 and 36, Rosy McEwen is a sexually confident and more relaxed Mary, even as she goes through therapy that makes her conclude that she never controlled anything in her life. Alisha Weir makes an assured stage debut as Mary aged 12, already resentful of her own mother’s drinking. We see a hopeful and optimistic Mary in college at 19, played by Eleanor Worthington-Cox.

As Mary at 59, 63 and 69, Sarandon is completely natural, bringing a real sense of contentment to an everyday scene of eating pasta with her third husband. This is a quieter Mary, with a touching and resigned stillness as she approaches the end of her life, refusing to dwell on what might have been.

Rob Howell’s stripped-back set contains limited props, with the timeline relying more on his costumes to communicate the era, including some wonderfully 80s stonewash jeans teamed with white heels.

The Old Vic’s outgoing artistic director Matthew Warchus has reconfigured the space to make an intimate in-the-round experience for the audience. We may see Mary from every angle, but never know the complete person; it is a clever conceit. Warchus handles the fractured timeline well, creating fluidity and really allowing the quieter scenes to breathe.

It is the excellent acting that vividly brings every Mary to life, as Letts asks (but never answers) the eternal question of what is fated to happen in a life and what we can control.

Mary Page Marlowe is at the Old Vic to 1 November. Book Mary Page Marlowe tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Mary Page Marlowe (Photos by Manuel Harlan)