'Woman in Mind' review — Sheridan Smith shines in Ayckbourn’s nightmarish comedy

Read our review of Woman in Mind, starring Sheridan Smith and Romesh Ranganathan, now in performances at the Duke of York's Theatre through 28 February.

Summary

• Sheridan Smith leads the cast of Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind in the West End
• Comedian Romesh Ranganathan makes his West End debut
• It is 40 years since Ayckbourn’s play premiered in the West End

It is 40 years since Alan Ayckbourn’s darkly comic psychological drama Woman in Mind premiered in the West End and, despite the passage of time, it is clear that his story of an ordinary woman in turmoil has just as much resonance now as it did then.

Susan is the housewife and mother who is trapped in a passionless marriage to self-absorbed vicar Gerald, with an absent son (Rick, escaped to a sect in Hemel Hempstead) and lacking a sense of purpose. But after a bump to the head courtesy of a garden rake, she opens up a new, fantasy world in which she has a husband who desires her, a daughter who adores her, and a brother willing to protect her. In this colourful world — brought to life by video designer Andrzej Goulding’s trippy, psychedelic flower projections of her garden, which seem to pulsate and breathe as her mind alters, and Soutra Gilmour’s eye-popping, candy-coloured costumes — her mind creates what she is denied in her muted, real life.

The casting of Sheridan Smith as the star to carry Susan’s journey could not be more apt. She has crafted a career from playing the everywoman: relatable, down-to-earth characters beloved by her fans. Just three years ago, Smith played a bored, Liverpudlian housewife on the very same Duke of York’s stage in Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine. She also isn’t afraid to tackle characters teetering on the edge of collapse, as seen in 2024’s divisive Opening Night.

As Susan, her emotions are always bubbling beneath the surface: in the ‘real’ scenes, she is buttoned up, foot tapping, eyes drifting around the room; in her imagined sequences she grins dreamily, bathed in Lee Curran’s warm lighting, and memorably gives herself over to the fantasy during an ecstatic rainstorm. Smith often appears to be on the edge of both tears and laughter, but her vulnerability is truly laid bare as the show’s hallucinatory quality turns sickly during a bonkers, nightmarish denouement.

Smith is aided by a fantastic supporting cast, including comedian Romesh Ranganathan in his West End debut. As Bill, the doctor trying to make sense of Susan’s split reality, he brings an amiable, bumbling, nervous energy, frequently breaking into awkward laughter. Tim McMullan is a hoot as Susan’s dismissive and dull husband Gerald, more interested in writing a 60-page pamphlet than saving his marriage, and is matched by Louise Brealey as his stiff yet neurotic sister Muriel, holding on to a lifetime of regret. Safia Oakley-Green, Sule Rimi, and Chris Jenks are suitably unsettling as Susan’s perfect, imagined family, who are initially concealed behind the metatheatrical safety curtain, before fully invading her mind.

Tonally, Ayckbourn’s play is challenging, switching from rich comedy to nightmarish sequences, yet director Michael Longhurst cleverly balances the play’s surreal and real qualities — and his production is certainly one that sticks in the mind.

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Photo credit: Sheridan Smith in Woman in Mind. Inset: Romesh Ranganathan with Smith; Ranganathan, Smith, Chris Jenks, and Safia Oakley-Green. (Photos by Marc Brenner)