Review Roundup: What Did the Critics Think of Cole Escola's OH, MARY!?

Oh, Mary! is an uproariously dark comedy about a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Unrequited yearning, alcoholism, and suppressed desires abound in this 80-minute one-act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln, through the lens of playwright Cole Escola.

The production has now landed in the West End-but what did the critics think?

Oh, Mary! is booking at the Trafalgar Theatre until 25 April 2026

Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan

Aliya Al-Hassan, BroadwayWorld: There are some funny moments and the energy never flags, but the overall feeling is that you are watching an 80-minute-long comedy sketch. Park's gurning and exaggerated movements are beautifully executed, but the often-dated jokes and gestures are not enough to sustain a whole play. It is interesting that American audiences find this show so funny; to Brits the humour frequently comes across more in line with a Benny Hill Christmas special.

Arifa Akbar, The Guardian: And how meaningful can any of it be if the writer, by their admission, has undertaken “no research” into Mary Todd Lincoln’s life story? Satire and black comedy as genres are built to accommodate social observation and acid critique, but there is none of that here. You learn next to nothing of how Mary may have been held back or shaped by history in this apparently “revisionist” version. Instead, you get the dramas of the men around her, from Abraham’s hidden homosexuality to his ex-lover (Dino Fetscher) and current squeeze (Oliver Stockley). Mary is simply repulsive and every other character laughs at her behind her back.

Sarah Crompton, WhatsOnStage: There is a sliver pathos in Mary as she convinces herself, melodramatically, that she is in love and is about to be a stage success which Park allows to emerge. If you squint hard and at a distance, then there might be a sense that the play is examining the frustration of people who are neglected. But not really. This is a piece almost entirely without sub-text, a celebration of the camp, queer humour that Escola has made their own.

Andrzej Lukowski, TimeOut: 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.

Nick Curtis, The Standard: Park is a force of nature, whisking around the teasingly basic set (by the “multi-disciplinary design collective” dots), hooped skirt flying, in a desperate search for liquor and attention. She addresses a portrait of George Washington (or as we should probably call him, “the Man who did Mary’s Husband’s Job In The Past”) as “Mother”. Induced to try oil painting, Mary guzzles a bucket of paint thinner, sicks it up, and drinks it down again.

Clive Davis, The Times: Cole Escola’s deeply weird comedy, which re-imagines Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of honest Abe, as a frustrated cabaret artist, knocking back booze and spitting venom in all directions, has built a cult following since it began life off-Broadway. The performance I attended at the Trafalgar Theatre was greeted with some of the most maniacal cackling I’ve ever heard from a West End audience. Which is very, very odd when you consider that, deep down, Sam Pinkleton’s production is really a Saturday Night Live sketch stretched to improbable lengths.

Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph: With set designs that exude tongue-in-cheek period fidelity, and thundering piano-music interludes that form a running joke about 19th-century theatricals, this is more snappy lark than history lesson. Its mischievous streak is fully announced the moment Park’s pale-faced, rouge-cheeked heroine flounces on to the stage, hoop-dress and ringlets a-bobbing, in raging search of the liquor her husband (played by Giles Terera as a wonderfully furtive statesman) has just tried to hide. “Oh mother, why did I marry him?” she madly rails at a sober portrait of George Washington.

Marianka Swain, London Theatre: It’s an incredible showcase for a performer – which, on Broadway, has included Escola, Tituss Burgess, Jinkx Monsoon, and Jane Krakowski – and London is treated to a tour-de-force turn from Mason Alexander Park, who tears into the material like a ravenous tiger. Park hits every note with absolute comic precision: Mary’s infantile narcissism, crippling boredom, devilish humour, and, when presented with a hunky new acting teacher in tight breeches, all-consuming lust.

Average Rating: 63.8%