All About Her Mother: ‘Well’ at Trafalgar Studios

I’m not going to beat about the bush, because there simply isn’t a need to pad out this review with clever sentences and a waffling intro. Well is quite simply outstanding; a revelation of innovative, delicious theatre. I honestly don’t think that I have seen something so funny, and so touching for a very long time.

Currently showing at Trafalgar Studios, an intimate, engaging space just off Trafalgar Square, you’d be forgiven for imagining you had walked into some sort of amateur theatre. Lighting, set, costume are simple, effective but unremarkable, and it is only when the action starts that you realise that this play is in a whole league of its own.

Main character, Lisa Kron, is a young dramatist using the theatrical space to discuss issues of ‘illness and wellness’ – she wants to talk about how some people get well, and some people stay ill – and she has brought her ailing mother on stage as a perfect example. But, as she assures us several times, this play is not about her relationship with her mother. Not at all.

As Lisa tries to navigate between her experiences of illness and wellness, both of a physical and emotional kind: “How could my mother heal a whole community, while she couldn’t heal herself,” we start to see how certain events in Lisa’s life have informed her judgement. Except that, as the play progresses, turning from naturalist to distinctly surreal, we realise that what Lisa remembers is not the facts of her life, but the story she has created around those facts. And as the story starts to disintegrate, so does Lisa. And so does her play.

Actors playing scenes from Lisa’s life jump in and out of their characters, criticising the structure of her play, or questioning the meaning of a scene. Her mother interrupts constantly, talking to Lisa, talking to the audience. Unscripted characters turn up, confusing Lisa, and confusing us. And in this way, the play turns in on itself again and again, carefully revealing and simultaneously picking apart Lisa’s story. The theatrical structure breaks down too, and like Russian dolls, constantly revealing another hidden secret, another twist and turn, the play moves ever closer to its perfect core.

The ensemble actors are excellent, and Sarah Miles does magnificently with a part that requires her to be mostly weak, and feeble. But it is Natalie Casey who steals the show, with her pitch perfect American accent, her energy, her humour, her presence, her timing, her heart. She is solid, engaging and mesmerising. I could have watched her all night.

Well is wonderful play; a delicious dive into someone else’s world, and someone else’s story. It asks us important questions – not about being ill or being well – as Lisa promises, but about the stories we create, and what it means when you become a part of that story, whether you like it or not. For aren’t we all living our lives, struggling constantly with someone else’s interpretation of an event? Certainly for a few hours in Lisa’s world, even the audience is part of her story. And, of course, her mother – about whom this play really is all about.

Well runs until September 27 at Trafalgar Studios
14 Whitehall Street
SW1A 2DY

Box office: 0870 060 6632