The production is booking at the Trafalgar Theatre until the 25th April 2026.
The Reviews Hub: ***** “There might be a few people in the audience who think it’s still too soon to make a mockery of events that occurred in 1865, but even they will be won over by the cast’s determined, zany antics, all finely and tightly directed by Sam Pinkleton. In the end, however, this is Mason Alexander Park’s show, and they mine every laugh, every joke, to its deepest. They even channel a bit of Kiki (from Kiki and Herb), Justin Bond’s alter ego, giving a history to Mary every bit as tragic as Kiki’s.”
Musical Theatre Review: **** “There are deeper themes going on in this 80-minute one-act play, covering gender politics, mental health, grief, repression of dreams and desires and more. It’s your choice whether you ponder those on the way home. Whatever your experience, it will be hard not to leave feeling the joy that silliness brings, while appreciating the work that goes in to doing it well.”
Theatre & Tonic: **** “Taking on the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, Mason Alexander Park is exceptional – their comic timing is phenomenal and they give a physical performance that brings the house down. Whether they are whirling like a dervish or simply walking across the stage, every move has been considered and perfected so as to fully inhabit this most chaotic of characters. Wearing a huge hooped skirt, part of Holly Pierson’s brilliant costume design, Park is mesmerising and it’s hard to take your eyes off them. Every barbed comment or melodramatic over-reaction is a masterclass of a performance.”
The Guardian: ** “Directed by Sam Pinkleton, this is farce at its broadest (the set, designed by the collective dots, has two doors to ram that home). It is big, loud, crowdpleasingly obvious. The programme suggests that the retro naffness and cartoonish stereotypes are deliberate but the show still amounts to nothing more. You wonder what the purpose is behind the larking.”
West End Best Friend: *** “Satire is defined as “humour, irony, or ridicule to expose people’s vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics”. We failed to make any connection to the current global politics either side of the Atlantic but could appreciate the debate about the difference between cabaret and legitimate theatre described as having “fewer feathers and flatter shoes” as well as some in jokes about theatre people being in bred.”
Time Out: *** “Two great leads, a handful of good lines, some top notch physical business and the epically random deployment of Belle and Sebastian’s classic 1996 song ‘Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dying’ – these are all good things. Existing at the point in the curve where subversive New York cabaret and naff ‘70s British comedy overlap, there’s clearly an audience over here for Oh, Mary! But that’s not the same thing as living up to the hype.”
The Standard: **** “This show can’t see a top without going over it. Park’s performance is the polar opposite of subtle but it is exactingly precise and finely detailed. Their attempts to get down from a desk in Mary’s Husband’s office – which is in a House that may be White – is a masterpiece of physical comedy. Their timing and delivery is impeccable.”
Theatre Weekly: **** “This is not a play for everyone. Its outrageous style and relentless irreverence may alienate those who prefer their historical dramas straight-laced. Yet for audiences willing to embrace the madness, Oh, Mary! offers something genuinely different: a comedy that is as unpredictable as it is audacious. You never quite know what might happen next, and that sense of danger is part of its charm.”
The Stage: **** “Star turn from Mason Alexander Park makes this outlandish comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln weirdly wonderful.”
All That Dazzles: **** “Sam Pinkleton’s direction matches Escola’s writing to heighten the hilarity in every scene. Loud, proud and exaggerated choices litter the production, from how Mary throws herself around the stage to the visible reactions from characters on stage to literally everything you can think of. While Pinkleton clearly takes the direction seriously, he also fills it with as much stupidity as possible, adding to the overall success of the play.”
Londonist: **** “On the West End, Escola’s role of catty boozehound Mary (“That Fucking Witch” as her own husband refers to her) is played with half-possessed flawnessness by Mason Alexander Park, swiping at long-suffering aides with her claws one second, careening at hunky acting teachers the next. This performance alone — how Park’s hysterically impractical crinoline dress becomes a prop that magnifies Mary’s abysmal traits — is enough to see the show through.”
The Telegraph: **** “The camp frivolity, arch gags and OTT antics of this comedy about Abraham Lincoln’s wife bring the year to a screamingly silly end.”
London Theatre 1: ***** “Oh, Mary! is daft, daring and meticulously put together. A riotous reminder of what can happen when brilliant performers are given permission to be ridiculous.”
London Theatre Reviews.co.uk: ***** “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.”
London Theatre.co.uk: **** “Holly Pierson supplies effectively heightened costumes, Leah J. Loukas the now-iconic “bratty” ringleted wig for Mary, and Sam Pinkleton’s tonally assured production riffs off the melodrama that Mary often embodies with overblown piano music and storm effects.”
The Upcoming: ***** “Wild, witty, and pure joy (think Wilde on crack), this anachronistic production is not one to miss, leaving the audience splitting their sides with laughter, and it deserves all the stars.”
The Independent: **** “Oh Mary! is full of queer, subversive and very silly twists that it would be a shame to spoil.”
Oh, Mary! continues to play at the Trafalgar Theatre until the 25th April 2026.