★★★★

“As an insight into the lives of both protagonists, it is a very worthwhile evening.”

From Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the writers of Birds of a Feather, Roll Over Beethoven, The New Statesman and a multitude of other celebrated TV comedy dramas, comes this new work, premiered at UATG.

It’s an odd one. Not a comedy, but with comic moments. Not an imagined story, but a fantasy setting of four seminal meetings of these two huge figures who, it could be said, actually changed the world. Not a play with tension – we know the ending for these characters, after all. And it also takes a bit of time to get into it. The opening scenes are clunky, if dramatic. But when it gets into its stride, this is a first class evening’s entertainment for anyone interested in these giants of 20th century history and how their actions still resonate now.

The basic premise of the play, directed by UATG’s artistic director Isaac Bernier-Doyle, is straightforward. As an infant, Adolf Hitler suffers from nightmares and bedwetting. Mrs Hitler (played by Nesba Crenshaw who skilfully transitions into Mrs Freud in subsequent scenes) takes him to the family doctor who recommends that the child attend a new nervous disorders clinic, run by you-know-who. Her extremely violent husband refuses to let her. But what if he had? Could proper psychological treatment have changed the course of history?

This is the clunky bit. Anna Freud (acted with great warmth by lovely Ruby Ablett) introduces and closes the play with this question. It is not very clear why the narrative arc is given to her to manage. And in the first of four main imaginary scenes of meetings between Hitler and Freud, the attempt to analyse Hitler doesn’t really hit the right note – although Hitler’s introduction into the scene as a child is suitably comic. Freud’s ‘analysis’ of Hitler is cursory, and we already know what is causing the problem.

After that, the drama gets going. Through successive encounters over the period leading up to the Second World War we see Hitler become the man he is going to be. His paranoia and inherited violent nature emerges; his belief that he is at core a misunderstood and rejected artist is given reign; and his need for attention and praise is on full display. So, actually, the answer to the ‘what if’ question is ‘no’. Because what you get here is snippets of the real lives and real personalities of Freud and Hitler. The research behind this play was impeccable and manifests in the coincidences that Marks and Gran have used to create the structure the play. As an insight into the lives of both protagonists, it is a very worthwhile evening.

What it is not, however, is a comedy. There are laughs and light moments. Apparently, Freud was known for his love of humour, but he makes bad jokes and the audience laughter was rare. I wondered if the subject matter at its heart was just too dark for us to laugh at it. Or maybe because the consequences of Hitler’s antisemitism still echo down this century.

A word about the key performances. Jonathan Taffler is Sigmund Freud. He really is. He was an utterly believable character, in turns ironic, arch and strong but always kind. Sam Mac as Hitler is completely watchable: needy, boastful, resentful and his outbursts of anger (cleverly echoed in a soundscape of Hitler’s actual speeches) are sinister. If he is trying to be funny, maybe we just can’t laugh at Hitler – although this is not the first such attempt. The set, too, is designed very skilfully – by Hannah Danson, with lighting by Simon Jackson – to allow out-of-sight scenes to play and it amplifies the darkness of the era.

In the closing scene, Anna brings forward one more coincidence. Freud died (at a place near ‘here’- Hampstead) in September 1939. Hitler ‘lived a little longer’.

MADWOMEN OF THE WEST at the Riverside Studios

★★

“Like the piñata that hangs above the stage throughout but is never used, the full force of the show never strikes its target”

I feel sorry for the Uber driver. Midway through Sandra Tsing Loh’s American import comedy “Madwomen of the West”, Claudia (Melanie Mayron) wants out. “No, not Highgate” she drawls into her phone. “Where are we?” she asks the audience. “Hammersmith”. But when the driver is three minutes away, she decides to stay, but fails to cancel the ride. The conversation – and the driver – are instantly forgotten. Claudia is at her friend’s house, in her pyjamas for some reason. Her friend is Jules (Brooke Adams) who initially conceals her torment and vodka in a water bottle. Also present is Marilyn (Caroline Aaron), busily putting up and taking down invisible party decorations. Latecomer Zoey (Marilu Henner) breezes into view like Catwoman, crashing the stage with the promise of ruffling feathers that are already dishevelled.

There is plenty of blurring of the lines in this play, which at times doesn’t feel like a play at all. There is no fourth wall, but when we are spoken to (or at) we are never sure whether it is the character or the actress. Presumably when the show initially ran in Los Angeles and New York last year, the audiences would have a better grasp, but from this side of the pond it is hard to tell.

The four performers have got together to put on a show about four women of a certain age who have got together for a surprise birthday party. They have known each other since their college days, which definitely shows in the camaraderie and the rivalry. The performances are wonderfully natural, but just as we are relaxing into their plush sofas and reminiscences, we are jolted out again by abrupt theatrical devices. The joke wears thin as the (fictitious) lack of budget, set, props and tech crew are repeatedly referred to. Where it fares best is the tweaking of the script for the English audience, acknowledging and respecting the differences in the humour while simultaneously making fun of us.

It not only makes fun of our culture, but also their own, and the fact that they cannot keep up. They don’t even want to keep up and these strong, successful women have earned the right not to try. The writing is sometimes unashamed as they tackle the topics of today. ‘Trans… it’s the new bulimia…’ The conversation and the drink flow freely as the women grapple with their own issues as well as the world’s. Divorce and disappointment, menopause and marriage, career and child-rearing, expectations and sexploitation. Many points raised are tried and tested but a few jump out like refreshing splashes of political incorrectness. Little seems to be out of bounds. Director Racky Plews must have had her work cut out, yet she has maintained a tight hold on proceedings while still making it look as though the performers are calling all the shots.

Some monologues, while informative and sympathy grabbing, linger too long and some clashing viewpoints seem contrived. But the chemistry between these performers is reassuring. We sometimes feel we are watching an Americanised episode of ‘Loose Women’ until we realise that, if we were, we wouldn’t even make it to the first commercial break before our ‘cancel culture’ would have everyone fired.

Yet for all the promise of acidity and caustic comedy, “Madwomen of the West” treads tentatively, unsure of the response, which kind of misses the point. If it appeared to care less, we would probably care more. Like the piñata that hangs above the stage throughout but is never used, the full force of the show never strikes its target. So the real treats – the reward for persevering – are never released. Instead we are guided to a rather sugary ‘let’s-be-friends’ finale. I wonder if the Uber is still waiting outside.

DR FREUD WILL SEE YOU NOW, MRS HITLER

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

★★★★

“As an insight into the lives of both protagonists, it is a very worthwhile evening.”

DR FREUD WILL SEE YOU NOW, MRS HITLER

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Reviewed on 10th September 2025

by Louise Sibley

Photography by Chromolume

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DR FREUD

DR FREUD

DR FREUD

MADWOMEN OF THE WEST at the Riverside Studios

★★

“Like the piñata that hangs above the stage throughout but is never used, the full force of the show never strikes its target”

MADWOMEN OF THE WEST at the Riverside Studios

Reviewed on 5th August 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Ryan Howard

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MADWOMEN OF THE WEST

MADWOMEN OF THE WEST

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