The Doctor

Recommended by

16 January 2020 · Follow on Stagedoor

“It’s good to see a piece of work so provocative and so astute and so timely finding a West End berth. Particularly when it boasts a central performance of such bravery and shimmering intelligence from Juliet Stevenson, a woman who knows how to make you think and feel in equal measure. Stevenson plays Dr Ruth Wolff, the founder of a renowned clinic who refuses to allow a Catholic priest to give the last rites to a dying 14-year-old who doesn’t realise she is a death’s door. Wolff believes this is the humane thing to do, but in the process she falls foul of the internet and the identity politics movement. Is Wolff the victim of a witch hunt, one perhaps with anti-Semitic under currents, or do her privilege and world view blind her to her own arrogance? Robert Icke’s contemporary version of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1912 rarity is startlingly alive and as slippery as a bag of cats.”

Best of the West End

23 September 2019 · Follow on Stagedoor

“The last time director Robert Icke and Juliet Stevenson worked together it was on Mary Stuart – a storming success that sold out the Almeida and transferred to the West End. This fiercely clever new adaption has already been a storming success at the Almeida and is en route to the West End to see if it can repeat the success of their last collaboration.”

Overview

Olivier Award winner Juliet Stevenson delivers “one of the performances of the year” (Evening Standard) in the West End transfer of Robert Icke’s sold-out, five-star Alemida Theatre production - from 20 April 2020 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, society takes sides.

The latest smash-hit by “Britain’s best director” (Telegraph) is a “provocative, wonderfully upsetting” (Independent) whirlwind of gender, race and identity politics, “one of the peaks of the theatrical year” (Guardian) and a “devastating play for today” (Financial Times)

Please note: This production features bright, flashing lights and strobe.

Content Warning:

The Doctor includes the discussion of suicide and the description of suicide methods.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this production, you can get free support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year from the Samaritans. Visit samaritans.org or call 116 123 for free.

Age Recommendation: 14+

Critic reviews

Juliet Stevenson is brilliant in an ethical debate that is both thrilling and challenging

⋅ The Arts Desk

Intense, challenging swansong for Almeida's Robert Icke starring spellbinding Juliet Stevenson

⋅ Evening Standard

Juliet Stevenson is fantastic in Robert Icke’s brutal depiction of a modern-day witch hunt

⋅ The Stage

An astonishing, gripping evening

⋅ WhatsOnStage

Robert Icke offers brilliant diagnosis of modern ills

⋅ The Guardian

Juliet Stevenson is magnificent in provocative, wonderfully upsetting production

⋅ The Independent

Juliet Stevenson is devastatingly good in Robert Icke’s intense but flawed final play for the Almeida

⋅ Time Out

In The Doctor, the mishandling of progressive ideas creates a lazy victim complex. Left unchallenged by audiences and critics alike, its assault on identity politics flourishes, a symptom of British theatre’s unwillingness to animate and empower its silenced proponents

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