Mary Page Marlowe at the Old Vic
Susan Sarandon’s career has encompassed everything from the ethics of judicial execution in Dead Man Walking to sapphic eroticism in The Hunger. The Hollywood legend has always been unafraid of traversing new terrain, both in her career and her outspoken political convictions. It’s fitting, then, that at 79 the consummate trailblazer makes her long-awaited UK theatre debut. Spanning 70 years in just 90 minutes, Tracy Letts’s Mary Page Marlowe is poignant, funny and at times devastating – all hallmarks that one has come to expect from the veteran playwright.
The play details fragments from Mary’s life, flitting between old age to adolescence to middle-age and back again. Andrea Riseborough portrays Mary at ages 40, 44 and 50, and opens proceedings with a tense, yet comical, confrontation with her pre-teen children over a greasy diner meal. In her matter-of-fact yet erratic manner, she announces she’s moving to Kentucky for work (as her daughter muses, who would ever willingly live there?). As with every decision in Mary’s life, she deems her children’s annoyance completely out of her control.
Sarandon plays the eponymous character at ages 59, 63 and 69. Our first glimpse of an ageing Mary is via a seeming domestic idyll with her third husband, Andy (Hugh Quarshie). They playfully bicker, with Mary not knowing how to work the TiVo prior to the couple’s ritual viewing of House. This sweet moment highlights the character having found some respite in her latter years.
Sarandon gives an inspired masterclass in commanding a stage, imbuing the character with all the emotional nuances that Letts’s coded dialogue does not afford. In a cathartic role, Riseborough does a fantastic job of channeling the toxic cycle of abuse that Mary has implicitly learned from her manipulative, overly critical mother (a brilliant Eden Epstein). As Mary at 27 and 36, Lucy Bromilow also shines, and a scene with her therapist gets to the heart of her inner turmoil: “I’m not the person I am.” She insists that it’s pointless getting upset about anything in life because everything that ever happens to us is happenstance; it’s this borderline nihilistic mindset that leads to Mary cheating on partners, getting drunk in front of her children and refusing to take responsibility for her actions.
The titular protagonist hasn’t led the sort of glamorous, action-packed life that would merit a biopic – and that’s precisely the point. This is a portrait of an ordinary woman’s life, all her faults and failures on display and expertly chronicled sans judgement or scorn. While the fragmented structure and restrained dialogue may leave audiences with more questions than answers, the play is elevated by a veritable ensemble led by the exemplary Sarandon.
Offering up existential food for thought, Mary Page Marlowe demonstrates how the most seemingly mundane aspects of our lives can end up becoming core memories. An electric Sarandon does not disappoint in her London debut, proving that – much like the play’s emotional payoff – it was well worth the wait.
Antonia Georgiou
Photos: Manual Harlan
Mary Page Marlowe is at the Old Vic until 1st November 2025. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.
Watch the trailer for Mary Page Marlowe at the Old Vic here:
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