Review: The Smile of Her at Marylebone Theatre

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Four Stars)

Christine Lahti - an acclaimed actress and director who has been awarded accolades including two Golden Globes, an Emmy and an Academy Award - brings her debut autobiographical play to London’s Marylebone Theatre this summer. The Smile of Her is incredibly personal to Lahti (who wrote and performs in the play), comprising stories from throughout her life and career, especially the misogyny and violence towards women she experienced and witnessed first-hand. These stories are insightful and powerfully told by an excellent storyteller. However, the production doesn’t quite manage to fully weave its threads together to reach an entirely satisfying conclusion. 

Playing herself - as well as many other people in her life such as her family members, who she describes as a “Mid-Western Von Trapp family on steroids” - Lahti delivers a strong performance in The Smile of Her. When speaking directly to the audience, she manages to make the lines feel spontaneous, as though she is deciding in the moment to trust us with these memories. Lahti is joined on stage by an eleven year old version of herself (played by Isabella Ford, who is making her stage debut in this production, at the performance I saw) which works effectively as a concept, and director Mȇlisa Annis stages their interactions thoughtfully. 

One of the stand-out elements of The Smile of Her is its design. The simplicity of Sarah Beaton’s set, with a lone plastic-covered white sofa on a rug in the centre of the stage with forced perspective walls bookended by frames of light and a gauze layer at the rear so the younger version of Christine and varied props can appear throughout the play, provides the perfect canvas for Matt Powell’s projections. Throughout the show, projections are used to show the audience family photographs and footage of Christine at key moments in her life and career. These projections are very well executed and assist in the storytelling of the show. 

Overall, The Smile of Her has many aspects to praise, from its honesty to its design and acting performances - even if it feels as though it’s yet to reach its final, most polished form. I would also caution audience members to read the content warnings before seeing the show as the play contains reference to as well as honest and explicit descriptions of several traumatic incidents. 

The Smile of Her runs at Marylebone Theatre until 29th August 2026.

Photos by Mark Senior