Review: OH, MARY!, Starring Mason Alexander Park

There has been much hype about Cole Escola's comedy play, Oh, Mary!, spoofing the lives of a former US President and his wife Mary in the days leading up to his assassination. Its Off-Broadway run was extended twice, moved to Broadway where it is still playing and now lands in the West End. So does it merit the buzz? Yes, and no.

Cole's highly creative writing imagines Mary as an anarchic, melodramatic and very mean booze-hound whose great regret is a lost career as a ‘niche cabaret legend’, all while her husband is praying to God to stop his 'sinful' compulsions. Historically accurate it is not, although nor does it propose to be.

Oh Mary! was nominated for five Tony awards and won two, including Escola in the lead role as the first non-binary winner for Best Actor. The part is now taken up by Mason Alexander Park who deserves huge credit for pulling off such a vicious, scenery-chewing role with aplomb. Mary is narcissistic to the point of being completely oblivious to the civil war that is consuming her husband and Park stomps around the stage alternating between egomaniacal attitude, preening narcissism and occasional rage. 

As Mary's husband, Giles Terera throws off gravitas to hurl venom towards Mary. He hires an erratic Dino Fetscher as Mary's Teacher to keep her away from the drink. There is also nice work from Kate O'Donnell as Mary's prim Chaperone and a dutiful Oliver Stockley as Mary's Husband's Assistant.

It's a wild, silly and very camp performance, including Mary drinking her own alcoholic vomit and jokes about the stimulating effects of cold ice cream in one's lap. Sam Pinkleton's direction is sharp and pacy, particularly in the purely slapstick elements of the show.

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.

Dots's set design makes the farce element even more obvious with two sets of doors at the back of the Oval Office, and Holly Pierson has fun with huge hooped skirts and Leah J. Loukas's now famously 'bratty' wig.

I suspect this will prove to be a divisive production; those who love it will adore it, but there will be those who may shrug and wonder what all the fuss is about.

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