Theatre
Review
Review: Mrs President
Keala Settle plays Mary Lincoln in a moment of self-discovery at the Charing Cross Theatre
Beware of artists, warns playwright John Ransom Phillips. His Mary Lincoln has every reason to be cautious of his Matthew Brady – this is a man who wants to interpret her as his own artistic vision, not depict who she really is. This tussle between them is what drives Mrs President forward, as Mary tries to discover herself, and Brady tries to create her. It’s the age-old tension between artist and muse, brought to an unexpected stage.
We know Mary Lincoln as history’s least popular First Lady, Lincoln’s ‘mad widow’, committed by her own son after burying three children and witnessing her husband’s assassination. Conditions under which any person might struggle, but Mary’s struggle – as she explains in Phillips’ play – was used against her. When she comes to famous photographer Matthew Brady in Mrs President citing his success in depicting her husband – in fact, Brady’s portrait is considered pivotal in Lincoln’s election – we understand that she wants Brady to give her what he gave her husband. Prestige, identity. A public understanding. A place in history. But, as she will soon discover, Brady doesn’t see the greatness in her he saw in her husband. He sees a broken bird, and he will immortalise her how he chooses.
Phillips’ play is much kinder to Mary than history, and not at all kind to Brady. He is sinister puppet master to Mary’s fractured distress, played with a mad scientist energy by Hal Fowler. Keala Settle, just as commanding in Mary’s outlandish pink frocks as she is in her mourning suit, is suitably intimidated, but not cowed. Bronagh Lagan’s direction makes it clear that she is in treacherous territory, reopening a much-broken heart in a space that is liable to transform, to let in strangers, to be visited by ghosts, whilst the dreary green of Anna Kelsey’s set provides little in the way of inspiration or comfort.
Ultimately though, despite Brady’s best efforts, Mary will decide who she is. She opts to take her own portrait, reminding the audience that “we do not have to accept the stories they give us.” Her own story might have outpaced her, but Phillips’ play reminds us that there will always be people who look for the truth in the picture.
Mrs President is playing at the Charing Cross Theatre until 8 March – find tickets here
