'When We Are Married' review — this marital satire is a festive treat thanks to a stellar comedy cast

Read our review of J.B. Priestley's When We Are Married, now in performances at the Donmar Warehouse to 7 February 2026.

Summary

• The Donmar Warehouse revives J.B. Priestley's 1934 comedy When We Are Married
• The story sees a trio of men in a Yorkshire town discover their marriages aren't legal
• The excellent cast includes John Hodgkinson and Jim Howick as two of the husbands
• Sophie Thompson and Samantha Spiro are also strong as their spouses

J.B. Priestley's 1934 comedy premiered over a decade before the landmark An Inspector Calls, but you can see some similarities in the two works. Both are savage satires of Edwardian moral hypocrisies, set several decades before they were written, and both take particular aim at men who consider themselves respectable.

In this case it's Joseph Helliwell (John Hodgkinson), Albert Parker (Marc Wootton) and Herbert Soppitt (Jim Howick), grandees of a small Yorkshire town, who find themselves in the crosshairs. They have gathered at the former's house, together with their wives, to celebrate the fact they all married on the same day 25 years ago.

It won't come as a shock to learn that all does not go to plan as the couples learn via hated new organist Gerald (Reuben Joseph), a “la-di-da” southerner, that the curate who married them was not in fact qualified to do so. Cue a cacophony of arguing, as Joseph's partner Maria (Siobhan Finneran) is forced to confront his unscrupulous lover (Tori Allen-Martin), Albert's long-suffering wife Annie (Sophie Thompson) delivers a few home truths, and browbeaten Herbert finally gets his chance to stand up to the domineering Clara (Samantha Spiro).

Donmar artistic director Tim Sheader's production keeps things pretty simple, wisely not trying to reclaim the play for modern times but rather aim for some solid festive funnies. And it finds them in abundance thanks to a stellar comedy cast who get just the right balance between farcical OTT-ness and droll understatement.

Wootton’s booming, heavily bearded Albert, who wears his title ‘councillor’ like a royal honour, makes a nice foil to Hodgkinson’s increasingly exasperated Joseph and Howick’s meek Herbert. Finneran, Thompson and Spiro meanwhile are just a joy as the trio of spouses who are no less haughty, pompous and preposterous in their own ways, moving around Peter McKintosh's mustard-yellow period set like cats circling prey (at one point soundtracked by a beautifully timed playing of Beyoncé's “Single Ladies”).

There are a couple of enjoyable musical additions; each act opens with a jaunty music hall number, the first sung by Janice Connolly's gloriously waspish housekeeper Mrs Northrop, the second by Allen-Martin’s blousy Lottie (arranged by composer Will Stuart). The cast is completed by Leo Wringer as an exasperated Reverend trying to restore order, and Rowan Robinson as Joseph’s fun-loving niece Nancy, who’s having a tryst with the organist. There's also some excellent physical comedy from Ron Cook's drunken press photographer Henry Ormonroyd, a man so sozzled he attempts to step up onto a rug.

It’s not a play that can be accused of carrying a surplus of subtext; Priestley wears his themes on his sleeve. And although the revelation at the heart of the story hardly hits with the same impact today, it does highlight the extent to which marriage as an institution rests so heavily on paperwork rather than passion, an observation with perennial relevancy. Ultimately it’s a love letter both to Yorkshire and to the tradition of farce, making it a smart piece of programming for this time of year. Just like a good Christmas cocktail, it’s fizzy, fruity, and eminently moreish.

When We Are Married is at the Donmar Warehouse to 7 February 2026.

Photo credit: When We Are Married (Photos by Johan Persson)