The Doctor at the Duke of York’s Theatre

On an ordinary day, at a private hospital, a young woman fights for her life. A priest arrives to save her soul. Her doctor refuses him entry.

In a divisive time, in a divided nation, a society takes sides.

Freely adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s Professor Bernhardi, The Doctor

The Doctor is a fast-paced, intelligent, powerhouse of a play that bolts right out of the gates on a journey of spiralling identity politics and cancel culture that doesn’t relent until its final scenes.

Juliet Stevenson in her role as Ruth Wolff delivers a masterclass in acting and commanding audience attention as she provides the force behind this fascinating story of loss, objectivity and identity.  Her performance is outstanding and she does not let up for a second in her role as this confident, arrogant and complex professor whom the audience can’t help but want to fight for.  Similarly, the full cast here put in top-class performances that can’t be faulted.

The writing here is exquisite and so fast-paced it really portrays the urgency the Doctors feel in these circumstances.  The text is humorous, heart wrenching and perfectly shows how this one initially small incident can be seen from such a variety of different viewpoints and just how it can quickly blow up with the power of the media, social media and activist groups.  It leaves the question with the audience of who is correct with the shades of grey between right and wrong thoroughly investigated.  It’s a dialogue lead sarcastic and witty script which is a joy to witness.  There are a few clever casting reveals here that allows certain elements of the situation to be revealed suddenly to the audience which has interesting consequences.

There’s a level of tension pulsating throughout the show created by the excellent sound design mixing drone sounds with live drums for an ever-building level of stress throughout the performance.  The stark lighting and set provides the perfect location for the clinical nature of the hospital and mirrors the way Ruth sees the world.

This show is almost 3 hours long yet thanks to the captivating writing and fantastic performances it seems to go by in the blink of an eye.  Catch The Doctor at the Duke of York’s Theatre until the 11th of December, tickets start from £18 from the London Theatre Direct website.

Tickets were gifted in exchange for a review, all words and opinions are my own.  Also contains affiliate links.