Review: Woman in Mind at Sunderland Empire

“…a powerful message…fantastic to watch…”

Woman in Mind by Alan Ayckbourn, Sunderland Empire

By Kay Wilson

This production, which celebrates its 40^th anniversary this year, was a visually and dramatically stunning, surreal adventure and held the audience in its grip. It felt fitting that the first stop for Woman in Mind outside of London was Sunderland, a northern town, when its playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn is still a huge theatrical presence down the North Sea coast, in Scarborough.

On a simple level, this play is about a bored wife and mother who gets a bump on the head in the garden, which makes her see things. But this is not even half the story, as it explores so many issues which impact on women’s lives, from unrequited love to sexuality and lack of purpose.

The opening scene looks like an idyllic flower garden, and we meet the main protagonist, Susan, brilliantly played by award-winning actor Sheridan Smith, as she lies prone on the lawn. She has concussion after stepping on the garden rake, which makes her the butt of all the jokes. Susan looks like a 1950s housewife, with her neat dress and shoes. She constantly fiddles with her little cardigan, which proves an effective device to demonstrate how her nerves begin to shred as the play develops.

Her treatment and assessment are carried out by Dr Bill, played to great effect by comedian Romesh Ranganathan. He is bewildered by her perception of reality, when it is so different from his own. After the Doctor leaves, Susan’s imaginary world takes hold again. Her fantasy family, with a sexy husband, Andy, played well by Sule Rimi, come to check on her, firing up her long-dormant libido. In this world she also has a loving daughter, Lucy, and a brother, Tony, played with great fun by Safia Oakley-Green and Chris Jenks.

The contrast between these vibrant, unreal relationships and her actual vicar husband, Gerald – with a great performance by Tim McMullan – is huge. He has been writing a sixty-page book on his local parish for years and Susan is patently bored rigid by him. There is no sexual or emotional connection at all.

Just as you think poor Susan’s life couldn’t get worse we meet her live-in sister-in-law, Muriel, well played by Katie Buchholz. This relative is unable to be pleasant, serves inedible food and thinks she sees her dead husband. She also undermines Susan at every turn. The plot builds up with the imaginary family planning a wedding and Susan seeing the marquee being erected in the make-believe vast gardens where she lives.

Dr Bill visits regularly to try and keep her on the right mental path and the chemistry between Susan and him is a joy to watch, with so much humour. The play is about serious issues, but there is also a good helping of slapstick and physical jokes when they are together.

This play has a really playful air with its pretty, flowery sets and characters often skipping and running about like children, but what a bite it delivers underneath the surface show of their lives. It has a powerful message about how women can get lost if they are not listened to, are ignored and are unfulfilled emotionally and physically. I really enjoyed it and the calibre of the whole cast was fantastic to watch. They were charismatic and you got a huge sense of it being a tight ensemble who were having fun, as were the audience.

Woman in Mind plays at Sunderland Empire until Saturday 07 March. Tickets are available here.

Kay Wilson is a North East-based writer. She won Runner-Up in the Self-Published category at the Comedy Women in Print awards for her debut novel, The Stand-Up Mam. It was inspired by her own experience of performing comedy for two years and charts the adventures of a perfect mother who does stand-up. It transforms her but blows up family life. Described as ‘hilarious and heart-warming’, signed copies can be bought at The Bound bookshop, Whitley Bay. The novel is also available on Amazon here. Kay has a website which promotes extraordinary women and gives updates on her writing life.