Woman In Mind starring Sheridan Smith and Romesh Ranganathan (Duke of York's Theatre, West End) - ★★★ REVIEW

Summary

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Podcast Summary: MickeyJoTheatre – “Woman In Mind” Review (Duke of York’s Theatre, West End)

Host: MickeyJoTheatre
Episode: Woman In Mind starring Sheridan Smith and Romesh Ranganathan (Duke of York's Theatre, West End) - ★★★ REVIEW
Date: January 11, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, MickeyJo (“Micky Jo”), seasoned theatre critic and YouTube creator, offers his candid review of Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind at the Duke of York’s Theatre. The production, celebrating its 40th anniversary, stars Sheridan Smith as Susan, with Romesh Ranganathan in his West End debut. Micky Jo explores his evolving relationship with Ayckbourn’s work, the curious challenges posed by this “puzzling piece of theatre,” and how the talent onstage and inventive design choices measure up.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Micky Jo’s History with Ayckbourn (02:41)

• Admits limited exposure to Ayckbourn’s plays—this is only his second.
• Recognizes Ayckbourn as “one of the most prolific playwrights of all time,” and reflects on his own lack of familiarity as “something of an indictment on my own theatre going experience.”
• Acknowledges Woman in Mind as a “star vehicle” for leading actresses, name-checking Julia McKenzie, Helen Mirren, Stockard Channing, Janie Dee, and now Sheridan Smith.

2. Play Summary & Interpretation (05:03)

• Woman in Mind is characterized by:
  • A domestic setting with “darker intrigue” lurking beneath the surface.
  • The protagonist, Susan, is a housewife “gradually unraveling,” torn between a neglectful real family and an idyllic fantasy family.
• Notable plot elements:
  • Play opens with Susan recovering from being knocked unconscious—a physical and narrative catalyst.
  • “The line between fantasy and reality is entirely blurred. This is essentially a story of a woman torn between two different families, the real one who don’t necessarily value or hear or respect her, and the fictitious one that she has invented.” (06:00)
  • Hallucinations adapt as Susan confronts real-life disappointments; for example, “she fantasizes about being mother to a daughter” in contrast to her estranged real son.
• Comparison to other works:
  • Draws parallels to the play O Mary (Cola Scola) and Shirley Valentine, noting a shared “overt disdain extended towards her husband and these passive aggressive digs.”
• The play’s depiction of a neglected wife/mother is rooted in “the feminism of the 1980s.”

3. Thematic Depth and Contemporary Resonance (10:50)

• Micky Jo suggests the play’s themes have aged:
  • “I do think if a play like this were to be written today, audiences would expect for it to be a more explicit conversation about mental health with a more recognizable diagnosis.”
  • Notes that, while the “cutting edge theatrical ideas... have been thoroughly done since,” the piece “has at the same time held up pretty damn well.”
• Critiques Susan's role: “She is, on occasion, less subject and more object... making sarcastic comments about scenes being played around and across her, which I guess is a necessity of conveying to us the extent to which she is ignored and overlooked in her own home.” (11:58)

4. Production & Design Analysis (13:49)

• Director Michael Longhurst is at the helm; Mickey Jo notes similarities to Longhurst’s work on Next to Normal, though, “utterly different techniques are used in order to depict and frame the hallucinatory happenings here.”
• Set & costumes by Sutra Gilmour:
  • Describes “a shallow, grass covered space, the backdrop of which is a lowered safety curtain... a fake one, utilised to depict the blurred line between fantasy and reality.”
  • Comments on the overused “overgrown grass” device in theatre design: “I keep seeing this overgrown grass on stage and I just don’t know what it’s doing.” (15:08)
  • Lighting (Lee Curran) and video design (Ange Goulding) skillfully differentiate reality and fantasy.
• Micky Jo questions whether the stylized design “looks striking and says little.”
• Finds the emotionally distant tone “typical” of late-20th-century British theatre, likening Ayckbourn’s evasiveness to Pinter.
• Suggests the direction is “slightly clinical, slightly crafted,” lacking the emotional urgency he craves: “There was a certain lack of emotional honesty, which I feel like your everyman theatre goer may find a little bit... distancing.” (18:48)

5. Performance Highlights (21:59)

• Sheridan Smith (Susan):
  • Praised for stage and screen success; noted for “combining strength and vulnerability.”
  • Micky Jo resists labeling her a better screen or stage actress: “It’s very much her theatricality that she brings to the small screen that makes her so brilliant and so beloved.”
  • Notes slight miscasting: “I don’t know truthfully, that I really buy into the idea of her ever having become the wife of this Reverend character... She feels more like somebody who’s woken up and is having this kind of a Groundhog Day experience... I don’t recognize this woman in this house.” (22:56)
  • Wishes Smith’s Susan had “a little more agency,” though admires her “wholehearted commitment to vulnerability” and “emotional honesty,” calling it her greatest strength.
  • Critiques the performance’s temperature: “She sort of walks between fantasy and reality quite calmly, even as it begins to move beyond her control.”
• Romesh Ranganathan (Doctor):
  • Stage debut receives praise: “A really brilliant debut performance... He, for the majority of the thing, is sort of a hapless clown, the hilarity of which is only exceeded by some unexpectedly forthcoming romantic remarks.”
• Supporting Cast:
  • Saul Rimmy (fantasy husband Andy): Provides intensity and threat.
  • Tim McMullen (real husband Jerrold): Portrays “a necessarily one note characterisation who perhaps becomes a little more frenzied” as the play progresses.
  • Louise Brearley (Muriel): “A standout supporting performance,” bringing “bitterly sorrowful characterization” and comic relief with kitchen mishaps.
  • Taylor Uttley (son Rick): Captures a “very uncomfortable, emotionally reluctant conversation with his mother,” revealing the “pain of an irretrievable mother son relationship.”

6. Reflections & Final Thoughts (27:46)

• Mixed critical response: “It has already proven divisive among many other critics... there was an awful lot that I did admire and enjoy and respect about it... but... it didn’t really, to me feel like much of a substantial hit.”
• Applauds the “disorientating” experience: “Too little of the new writing we experience these days is genuinely challenging and disorientating... and I appreciated the opportunity to do just that.”
• Invites listener feedback, especially from those familiar with Ayckbourn’s work or prior Woman in Mind productions.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ayckbourn’s Repertoire:
  “He wrote so many [plays] over multiple decades, continues to write plays, the man is surely one of the most prolific playwrights of all time.” (03:21)

• On the Central Premise:
  “The line between fantasy and reality is entirely blurred. This is essentially a story of a woman torn between two different families, the real one who don't necessarily value or hear or respect her, and the fictitious one that she has invented...” (06:12)

• On Sheridan Smith:
  “There are qualities about this role that feel so perfect for Sheridan Smith. And at the same time there is an element of it that seems a little at odds with her inherently... She feels more like somebody who’s woken up and is having this kind of a Groundhog Day experience...” (22:56)

• On Staging Trends:
  “I keep seeing this overgrown grass on stage and I just don’t know what it’s doing.” (15:08)

• On Emotional Distance:
  “There was a certain lack of emotional honesty, which I feel like your everyman theatre goer may find a little bit disorientating, a little emotionally distancing.” (18:48)

• On the Value of Challenging Theatre:
  “Too little of the new writing we experience these days is genuinely challenging and disorientating and encourages you to try and discern what it is that you're looking at rather than just telling you. And I appreciated the opportunity to do just that.” (28:54)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment Description | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------| | 02:41 | Micky Jo’s introduction, personal Ayckbourn history | | 05:03 | Detailed summary of the play and its themes | | 10:50 | Modern resonance, mental health, feminism | | 13:49 | Production and design analysis | | 21:59 | Cast performances, spotlight on Sheridan Smith | | 27:46 | Final reflections and call to listeners |

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Summary & Takeaway

Micky Jo’s review is a thoughtful, nuanced exploration of Woman In Mind. He offers historical context, plot analysis, and assesses the staging and design, while critically appraising Sheridan Smith’s nuanced but occasionally out-of-place lead turn and the strength of the supporting cast. Overall, while admiring the production’s ambition and complexity—and Smith’s signature emotional honesty—he finds it a touch “clinical” and emotionally aloof, ultimately awarding it a moderate three-star verdict. The episode is especially valuable for listeners intrigued by contemporary theatre trends, classic British plays, and star-driven West End revivals.

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Transcript

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[Micky Jo]

When it comes to the plays of Alan Aykeborn, Woman in Mind was not my first rodeo. It was, however, my second rodeo, an experience which I would assume to be slightly less disorientating than your first rodeo. You know, by that point you've already seen and come to understand something about a rodeo, but it's very possible that you would still have questions about the rodeo. You know, you've only ever seen one rodeo. It is still only your second rodeo in this case. My first rodeo was an ACORN production a good few years ago and actually that rodeo left me with fewer questions than this rodeo. I'm gonna stop saying rodeo now. The the analogy has thinned. Let's try that again. This week I saw a play written by Alan Aykborn for only the second time in my life and I am going to tell you all about it. Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel or hello to those of you listening to this review on podcast platforms. My name is Micky Joe and I am obsessed with all things theater theatre and I say that clearly. I haven't seen enough ACORN plays in my life, or enough Pinter plays for that matter. The second is deliberate, but the aceborne thing and you know, considering that he wrote so many over multiple decades, continues to write plays, the man is surely one of the most prolific playwrights of all time. It is something of an indictment on my own theatre going experience that I haven't seen more of his work and certainly more of his notable works of which Woman in Mind is among the most celebrated. And it has in in its history become something of a star vehicle for celebrated stage actresses with the likes of Julia McKenzie and Dame Helen Mirren and Stockard Channing and Janie Dee I believe, all previously having played the leading role of Susan, now portrayed in a brand new West End revival of the play celebrating its 40th anniversary by Sheridan Smith, who at this point in her career is a celebrated stage actress in her own right as well as a star of screen. And over the last few years I have seen Sheridan in roles where I feel she has been able to excel. I have also seen her in hugely disappointing production. I'm talking largely about her two most recent West End roles with Shirley Valentine and Opening Night. So I was very intrigued as to where this one was going to fall on that spectrum as well as to get another experience of an acborn play. And I don't wish to suggest that I'm positioning myself as any kind of an expert here, because I'm not. There are occasions when I can go and see a piece of theatre and tell you about four prior versions and the whole history of the piece, and I have researched this one. But I don't want to suggest to you that I'm any kind of an authority or on this particular piece of writing, in this instance, I am someone discovering it for the first time, an experience which might resonate with some of you considering going to see this play with little familiarity with it. But I also know that there will surely be people in the comment section down below who have seen a great deal more of Acorn's work than I have, including potentially prior productions of Woman in Mind, and I'm very eager to hear from you. Please let us know if you've seen this revival, what you thought of it, as well as any thoughts and experiences about previous productions. In the meantime, as I still sort of come to terms with complicated feelings about this admittedly puzzling piece of theatre, here are my thoughts. So here's what I've learned. The play Woman in Mind first premiered in the mid-1980s, by which time Acorn already had a reputation for these domestic settings beneath which there lingered some sort of fascination, perhaps some darker intrigue. Very much the case here, as we ourselves acquainted with Susan, a seemingly straightforward housewife who is gradually unraveling. The play begins with an encounter between her and a physician. They are together in her garden. She is lying on the floor where moments ago she was knocked unconscious. This being the sort of catalyzing event that motivates the narrative of the play, he is desperately and determinedly trying to open his own bag, the dark and the absurd already enjoying stage time side by side. And in a bravely unsettling opening scene, the language that he uses as he tries to speak to and and reassure Susan becomes increasingly difficult for her and the audience to understand. It devolves into gibberish. Now we are told that Susan has rendered herself unconscious through the comedic act of stepping on a rake which has obviously swung up from the floor and struck her on the head. Only there's much to question here as we begin to perceive that the line between fantasy and reality is entirely blurred. This is essentially a story of a woman torn between two different families, the real one who don't necessarily value or hear or respect her, and and the fictitious one that she has invented, who have grown into increasingly malicious tactile hallucinations, though they aren't to begin with to begin with, they are utterly idyllic, and she has replaced her real life reverend husband, who is working on this historic book and paying her fairly little attention, with a husband who dotes on her, who is passionate and celebratory of their love and their relationship, who cherishes her as a sort of a queen. In the real world, they share their home with her sister in law, Muriel, who is this comically poor cook, a shortcoming which extends to just about anything kitchen related. The woman can't make a cup of coffee, as opposed to the charming young brother who Susan has invented for herself in this fantasy realm, who is constantly offering glasses of champagne and inquiring as to whether or not she'd like him to shoot anybody. In both realities, she is a mother. In the real world, it is to a son who had joined some sort of a religious order which mandated he cut all ties with his parents, so they haven't heard from him in some time, though he is due to return for lunch that day and they are eagerly anticipating his arrival. And in contrast to the disappointment of that relationship, she fantasizes about being mother to a daughter. And as Susan is forced to confront increasingly challenging realities about her real life, she indulges more and more in the temptation of this fantasy and sort of grants them additional power. But it's also fascinating to see the way in which these tactile hallucinations, as they seem to be, kind of adapt to that, as well as though they themselves are evolving with frenetic speed, because they respond to the disappointments that she discovers in conversation with various other real world characters. When she hears from her doctor, who recurs occasionally portrayed in this production by the comedian Ramesh Ranganathan in his West End debut, that his daughters are studying medicine, that they are achieving music scholarship, etc. She then adds that detail subtly into her own fantasy, and it becomes a characteristic of this fictional daughter character. Similarly, when she learns that her son has already gotten married without making his parents aware of the fact or inviting them to the ceremony, her fantasy world responds to this by crafting a scenario in which it seems as though she is preparing to be the mother of the bride at her daughter's wedding. And while it's an utterly sympathetic portrait of a wife and mother in acute emotional distress who is clearly the subject of some considerable neglect by her real life family, it's also fascinating to see the sort of slightly devious character that she becomes at the heart of this balancing act. Once she is pulled back from the lavender hues of this impossibly perfect suburban daydream to her real husband and his sister. There's something almost contemptuous in the way that she now regards each of them. It sort of reminded me of many of the dynamics present in Cola Scola's play O Mary, obviously written decades later. But between the overt disdain extended towards her husband and these passive aggressive digs at the other female character on stage, it was sort of very familiar of that dynamic. And curiously, I think there's probably also a conversation to be had about crossover with a narrative like Shirley Valentine, with a woman coming to terms with her lack of contentment and making choices to shape her life for herself. In Woman in Mind, Susan is only really beginning to arrive at that particular frontier. Shirley Valentine travels a great distance in order to go and find and seek out her own happiness. And Susan does all of that within the confines of her own head and within the events of this play. Doesn't necessarily arrive at a particularly satisfying answer, of course. Shirley Valentine is also a one woman play, and Woman In Mind is anything but. It features all of these supporting characters spiraling around Susan at all times. She is the focal point here. She is the sun which they are orbiting in spite of the fact, sort of ironically, that they pay her very little attention. They are in conversation with her, but they are never truly listening to what she has to say say they are speaking over her or, you know, barely heeding her feelings or dictating to her the woman that they believe that she is. And there's something very powerful in that conversation, surely even more so when its backdrop was the feminism of the 1980s. I do think if a play like this were to be written today, audiences would expect for it to be a more explicit conversation about mental health with a more recognizable diagnosis. Certainly these then cutting edge theatrical ideas about, like peering behind the living room curtains to explore and expose realities of the human condition as well as like toying with the line between fantasy and reality, have been thoroughly done since. But it has at the same time held up pretty damn well. If I have one reservation, it's probably brought on by having seen Sheridan Smith play a lot of heavyweight roles in the past and feeling as though Susan in this is on occasion less subject and more object, sort of semi permanently relegated to sitting on a piece of garden furniture and making sarcastic comments about scenes being played around and across her, which I guess is a necessity of conveying to us the extent to which she is ignored and overlooked in her own home. It just makes for a slightly less satisfying tour de force leading role. And before we talk about that role and Sheridan Smith's performance, let me tell you a little bit more about this production directed by Michael.

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[Noah]

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[Raj]

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[Noah]

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[Raj]

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[Chris Duffy]

All.

[Micky Jo]

Michael Longhurst. Now, there is the slightest novelty in Michael Longhurst directing this production because I guess there is some thematic overlap with the musical Next to Normal, whose UK premiere he directed at the Donmar Warehouse and then subsequently in the West End. Though interestingly, utterly different techniques are used in order to depict and frame the hallucinatory happenings here. And we should begin, I think, with the set design by the brilliant Sutra Gilmour, who has also designed the costumes for this production. And to begin with, everything is played on this shallow, grass covered space, the backdrop of which is a lowered safety curtain. Only it isn't a real safety curtain. It isn't the Duke of York's Theatre's real safety curtain. From what I could tell, it is a fake one, utilised for this production and utilised to depict the blurred line between fantasy and reality. For Susan, it raises up slightly to permit the entrance of some of the characters who she has created in her daydreams it later raises entirely to reveal a backdrop of taller grass. It's sort of impossible to grasp the actual scale of this garden. There are conversations with her fantasy characters that suggest that it goes on for acres and acres and acres. Only in real life, conversations are interrupted by the barking of next door neighbour's dog in what could very possibly be a semi detached house. It's interesting, then, that the visual we get is all of this overgrown tall grass, as if we're in a jungle somewhere from which these fantasy characters are able to emerge and surprise her. Indicative perhaps of the idea of like a dissatisfied housewife working in the garden and conjuring the perfect doting husband out of a hedge. It's also a design choice I find myself being increasingly fatigued by, because I feel as though it looks striking and says little. And I thought the same thing with the seagull at the Barbican earlier this year. I think Mrs. Warren's profession in the West End not too long ago also had this whole thing with grass. I keep seeing this overgrown grass on stage and I just don't know what it's doing. I also think it's challenging for us to really feel rooted in this story when what we're looking at isn't the reality. For the majority of the play, the reality is what is being played. And there is great use of lighting. Let me tell you who the lighting designer is on this production. Lee Curran. Great use of colour, of these pink and yellow hues to transition us into this dreamy other world, very much contrasted by the harsh white light of reality. But it sort of feels as though, and perhaps this has been the case with prior productions and they were eager to do something different, something more creative or ambitious with this one, that what we ought to be looking at should be the literal representation of her garden, that we should be seeing a little patio, a white picket fence, whatever it may be, from which normalcy, the bizarre and the impossible and the fantastical can then arise. The rear wall above the grass also featured these colorful sort of hallucinatory patterns that would occasionally sort of vibrate in and out of the focus to suggest some kind of delirium or disconnect. With video design credited to Ange Goulding and to return briefly to Sutra's costume design, there is, as you might expect, a brilliant difference and distinction between the costumes worn by her perfect fantasy family and her real one. A lot of the best costume design of the production only gets to arrive in the final few minutes. But it does, to its credit, end up creating the Sensation of perhaps the strangest dream that you've ever had. And if there's any aspect of this production I'm still sort of coming to terms with my feelings about, I think it's the direction from Michael Longhurst here. And I'd be so intrigued to see another production of Woman in mind in order to compare and contrast because the tone is so evasive. And I think that's an ace born thing as well, not unlike a Pinter thing. It's very late 20th century British theatrical comedy to have the bleakness and the darkness and the comedy of the whole thing constantly somersaulting over each other. And there's no idea here of anything resembling a sort of a procedure described TONE. At any given moment you could have half of the audience staring in bafflement trying to discern what it is that's happening on stage, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing. There's a certain amount of reward, I think, in the slow burn realization of exactly what it is that we are looking at, which is a concept that is stretched over the entire two act script. Basically. It's not full of various different events such that we need to make sure the whole audience understands exactly what is happening right at the beginning of the thing. We can come to terms with it slowly. We don't need to be spoon fed. But at the same time as that half of the audience is staring in confusion. The other half of the audience may be laughing at the wit with which the whole thing has been written and directed. Which is sort of littered throughout its most confusing and unsettling moments. There's little sense of levity neatly arising or steadily giving way to tension. It becomes increasingly chaotic and it sort of sets us within the mind of this woman with these two different sets of characters and these two different realities very much pushing against each other, with Susan stuck torturously in the middle. And all of that being said, I do think that there is more that you could say with a play like Woman in mind in 2026. I do feel like there is more that you could articulate about the domestic role of the wife and mother and the misery of this neglect. I don't know that we landed much of an emotional arc. The whole thing felt a little detached from that in its sort of bleak wit. It felt undeniably stylish with the way that it was staged with us peeking beneath the safety curtain with the rain happening on stage, with the disparate aesthetics of the garden furniture and then the overgrown grass and the digital screen of it all, but there was a certain lack of emotional honesty, which I feel like your everyman theatre goer may find a little bit disorientating, a little emotionally distancing. There's a lot to respect and admire about a play like this, but you don't necessarily feel compelled by it. And with everything that is happening to Susan both outside and inside of her own imagination, you sort of want to feel the weight of that misery and suffering a little more. Which brings us finally to the performances of this company and leading lady Sheridan.

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Smith.

[Micky Jo]

Now Sheridan Smith is, like I said, a hugely celebrated actor who has been going from two strength to strength with her TV roles and more often than not she is lauded for playing these very down to earth honest characters combining strength and vulnerability, many of which are qualities. I have seen her performing on stage and I want to eschew the idea that she is a better screen actress than a stage actress. I think it's very much her theatricality that she brings to the small screen that makes her so brilliant and so beloved by TV audiences. I've also seen her give one of the greatest stage performances that I've ever seen. When she played Hedda Gabler at the Old Vic Theatre, I thought that was just remarkable and very much against type for her. She gets nudged very often towards something of a working class box. That being a characteristic of many of the roles that she became famous for playing. And Susan in this definitely feels a little more upper middle class. There are qualities about this role that feel so perfect for Sheridan Smith. And at the same time there is an element of it that seems a little at odds with her inherently. I don't know truthfully, that I really buy into the idea of her ever having become the wife of this Reverend character. She doesn't feel like someone who has turned a corner later in her life and suddenly been more emboldened and become a little more devious as she shares exchanges with her son about inappropriate and awkward sexually explicit conversations that she's had with girls that he's brought home previously. She feels very much at odds with the life that we see her in. She feels more like somebody who's woken up and is having this kind of a Groundhog Day experience where she's like, that's not my husband, that's not my sister in law, that's not my son. I don't recognize this woman in this house. And I think once we find it difficult to believe her in that environment, it becomes a little challenging to buy into the entire thing. I also, like I said before, was hoping to see her getting to exact a little more agency. She is for so much of this, just reactive to the other characters around her swarming her and inflicting themselves upon her. But she remains remarkable on stage. And so much of the magic of her previous performances is present in this character as well. The gutsy quality. I mean, she's at her best really when she's alone on stage in conversation with us like she was in Shirley Valentine. There's a wholehearted commitment to vulnerability. And I think more so than anything else, I think her greatest strength as an actor is emotional honesty. I think that's what connects people to her. And I think a big part of why she has become as celebrated as she deserves to be. I do think, and this is very much between portrayal and direction, that we perhaps expect to see a little more hysteria from her. She sort of Walks between fantasy and reality quite calmly, even as it begins to move beyond her control. And it's only really by the very end of the thing that we start to see her as disorientated as we might expect to. Meanwhile, there are some terrific standout performances among the supporting cast. Ramesh Ranganathan making not only his West End debut, but actually his stage debut in this he has come to prominence as a comedian and a TV host and this I think is actually a really brilliant debut performance from him. I think it's a great role for him on stage. It's not necessarily the most ambitious dramatic role that he could choose, but it's really fun to get to see characterizations that are reminiscent of his own personality and then a version of that that is a little more crafted, a little less rumish. He, for the majority of the thing is sort of a hapless clown, the hilarity of which is only exceeded by some unexpectedly forthcoming romantic remarks and the way in which he completely shifts in order to deliver them with complete intensity. Brilliantly played. He's a great stage actor, I think, who we will see more of in the coming years. Now, many of the rest of the performances are these tremendous victories of contrast. Saul Rimmy, for example, plays this sort of increasingly threatening passion as her fictional husband andy, while Tim McMullen as her real life husband Jerrold plays a deliberately and necessarily one note characterisation who perhaps becomes a little more frenzied by the end of the play, aided little by his challenging sister Muriel, played wonderfully by Louise Brearley. This is a standout supporting performance. My favourite aspect of which is the evidently years long tension between her and her sister in law which you could absolutely cut with a knife were it not for the fact that Muriel, like I said, terrible in the kitchen, a recurring joke which becomes the play's best. But this sort of bitterly sorrowful characterization that Louise has found here is just so great, as are the other members of the company, including Taylor Uttley as Susan's real life son Rick, who has an unexpected conversation with her upon his return to the home, becoming in the process perhaps the most three dimensional character on stage and traversing this very uncomfortable, emotionally reluctant conversation with his mother about his recent life and immediate plans. It's very well played between the two as we feel this sort of one sided indifference and pain of an irretrievable mother son relationship. And in those moments where it feels perhaps neither up to date enough nor sufficiently nuanced to really reflect the human condition as we recognize it on stage. Perhaps the best thing that Woman in Mind can offer audiences is the chance to observe the fascinating and complex relationships between its characters. So those, I think have been some of my thoughts about Woman in Mind at the Duke of York's Theatre. I am so deeply intrigued to hear what you all thought of this, those of you who have already had the chance to see this or prior productions. It has already proven divisive among many other critics. And while I am admittedly no acborn scholar, and while there was an awful lot that I did admire and enjoy and respect respect about it, particularly as it gained pace towards the end and in its final few moments, and in the always brilliant performance of Sheridan Smith, I do think that it didn't really, to me feel like much of a substantial hit. It had that same sort of slightly clinical, slightly crafted quality as that production of Mrs. Warren's profession a few months ago, where the whole thing has been designed and it has been staged and it hasn't really been allowed to come to light. However, I enjoyed the ride. I do also think, and I'm sure some people will agree with me, that too little of the new writing we experience these days is genuinely challenging and disorientating and encourages you to try and discern what it is that you're looking at rather than just telling you. And I appreciated the opportunity to do just that. If you would like to have that same experience, you can check out Woman In Mind starring Sheridan Smith at the Duke of York's Theatre in London before it heads off on a small UK tour, during which it will, I believe, visit Sunderland and Glasgow. If you are local to either of those places, perhaps you can see it there. In the meantime, thank you so much for listening to all of my thoughts. I hope that you enjoyed. If you did, make sure to subscribe right here on YouTube or follow me on podcast platforms. And as always, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a Stagey Day Subscrib.

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