⭐⭐⭐ (Three Stars)

In the programme for Mrs. President, writer John Ransom Phillips explains how the idea for the play came to him when he was visited by the spirit of Mary Todd Lincoln on the streets of New York and she told him, “I want you to tell my story.” It is apt, then, that the resulting play is a deeply haunting portrait of “America’s most hated First Lady”. While another play centring on the same woman can currently be seen in London a mere five-minute walk away from the Charing Cross Theatre at the Trafalgar Theatre, the depiction of Mary Todd Lincoln in Mrs. President could not be more different from what you can expect to experience at Oh, Mary!. Here, we meet a woman desperately grieving her husband and young son and on the verge of being committed to an asylum for lunacy by her surviving eldest son. In a bid to reclaim her identity and public persona, Mary Todd Lincoln (Keala Settle) turns to renowned photographer Mathew Brady (Hal Fowler), who promises to use the power of photography to capture an image that truly represents who Mary is. This leads to an exploration of Mary Todd Lincoln’s mental state and all-consuming grief which, while an intriguing premise, is consistently intense and bleak in tone, making it a somewhat difficult and sombre watch.

In this two-hander, the performances by both Keala Settle and Hal Fowler under Bronagh Lagan’s direction are undoubtedly praiseworthy. Settle initially brings significant gravitas to the character of Mary Todd Lincoln, giving way to an increasingly vulnerable and dramatic performance of the grieving widow and mother as we learn more about the losses she has experienced. As eccentric photographer Mathew Brady, Fowler also demonstrates versatility as he multi-roles to play several different people Brady had photographed previously during Mrs Todd Lincoln’s hallucinations, although the material he is provided with leaves us with a confused impression of who Brady really is.

John Ransom Phillips’ writing provides an empathetic view of Mary Todd Lincoln. However, curious as it is to have two concurrent plays running in London about this historical figure, most British audience members (myself included) likely do not have enough contextual knowledge to fully appreciate all elements of the play, as it assumes at least some familiarity with the former First Lady’s life and reputation. It may be the case that the material would land better with an American audience, who are taught about Mary Todd Lincoln and this period of American history in school, as, speaking for myself, the majority of my prior knowledge about Mrs Todd Lincoln comes from a campy and almost fully fictionalised stage portrayal I saw just a couple of weeks prior to seeing Mrs President.

Anna Kelsey provides both set and costume design and delivers some fantastic work on Mrs. President. Our protagonist explains how she uses her clothing to express herself, and this is incorporated into the costume design of the show, with Mary beginning the play in a pastel floral dress with a voluminous hoop skirt and changing into black mourning attire as we learn more about the deaths she has experienced in her family. The set (the peripheries of which are bordered by an enormous photo frame that surrounds the stage) firmly situates us in Brady’s photography studio, with a wall of his framed photographs of great men in American history watching over proceedings, and a noose on stage from the start of the play that foreshadows events that will later occur. There is also a clever reveal of one of the walls at the rear of the studio becoming translucent under certain lighting states, which is used to allow eerie sequences of Brady in his darkroom to be seen. Kelsey’s set design works hand in hand with Derek Anderson’s lighting design and Matt Powell’s video design (both excellent) to provide striking and atmospheric moments throughout the play, especially when showing the audience the photographic outcomes of Brady’s shots of Mrs Todd Lincoln and when the haunting shadow of Mary’s deceased son enters the stage after she summons his spirit.

Overall, Mrs. President has strong design elements and performances in this exploration of Mary Todd Lincoln’s fractured psyche. However, running at 90 minutes without an interval of bleak and unrelenting darkness and intensity, it is not the easiest of watches.

Mrs. President runs at Charing Cross Theatre until 8th March 2026.

Tickets Available Here