Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts' critically lauded drama Mary Page Marlow finally opened at London's Old Vic last week. Directed by Matthew Warchus, Mary Page Marlow stars Oscar and BAFTA-winning Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking; The Client) and Oscar-nominated Andrea Riseborough (Birdman, To Leslie) taking the role of Mary Page during different stages of her life. Critics have had their say on London's latest addition, noting its powerhouse performances and naturalism. 

Take a look at the reviews below 

Reviews

The Times

"Susan Sarandon, a hard-to-fathom 79, is playing the oldest version of the title character. She's so casually excellent in her three shortish scenes that you want the Old Vic to impound her passport and keep her here for an entire season."

"Matthew Warchus's precision production begins with a superb diner scene in which Mary Page tells her children she's leaving the family home. Seemingly significant statements ("Sometimes we do things we shouldn't do") stud the small, sharp observations. Riseborough keeps it real but lets you feel the character's soul. Great writing."

"More good scenes follow: a patchwork structure that ends appositely, or maybe just cutely, with all Mary Pages gathered around an old family patchwork quilt. "

"Does Mary Page Marlowe need a few more scenes? Or maybe a few less? It doesn't quite add up, but you couldn't call it dull."

The Stage

"Matthew Warchus' production, performed by an impeccable cast led by Hollywood royalty Susan Sarandon and Andrea Riseborough, could hardly be more finely calibrated."

"It's an elusive piece of writing that changes shape as you stare at it, wriggles away if you try to pin it down. The impact is muted, but the overall effect is disquieting. The execution is faultless."

The Independent

"Sarandon has a winning spikiness and naughtiness"

"Andrea Riseborough is heartrending to watch."

"Warchus's in-the-round staging really does make room for these exceptional performances to shine."

"The odd thing about this play is the way it avoids fully lifting the mask on Mary's inner life. It's a deliberate choice, but a frustrating one. It's ultimately a little unsatisfying."

The Telegraph

"Andrea Riseborough delivers a masterclass in pathetic, bravado-charged despair."

"Letts packs in a lot with ease: the sexual revolution, inherited addiction, the quasi-ecstatic allure of self-sabotage when there is nothing else left to do. But for all the excellent acting, including Rosy McEwan, testing Mary's adulterous sexual freedom as a newly married 20-something, and Eleanor Worthington-Cox and ... Alisha Weir as the youngest Marys, I felt I was watching an idea of a woman rather than a real one."

Timeout

"Chopping and changing lead actors without aligning their performances is a choice, and it creates an exquisite corpse of a life story, that speaks to the idea that none of us are one single person throughout our lives"

"It's a smart piece of writing that's given us some fine performances - particularly from Riseborough - but its fussy theatricality ultimately gets in the way."

The Guardian

"This play by the celebrated American playwright Tracy Letts has many searing scenes, and is highly watchable with always excellent dialogue, but it is not quite so polyphonic or as whole."

"The scenes are powerful in themselves, with a naturalism that captures the testiness of intimate relationships from a sweet scene of a sleepover with friends who predict a future of bright hopes for Mary, to confessions of unhappiness to a therapist. One of the most moving features Sarandon as an elderly Mary, pressed up against death, on the verge of articulating something momentous, then withholding it."

Buy your tickets for Mary Page Marlow here.