The Doctor | |
---|---|
Written by | Robert Icke |
Date premiered | 10 August 2019 |
Place premiered | Almeida Theatre |
The Doctor is a 2019 play by Robert Icke. It is a reimagining of the 1912 play Professor Bernhardi by Arthur Schnitzler.
The play follows Professor Ruth Wolff, the Founding Director of the Elizabeth Institute, who refuses to let a Catholic priest into the operating room where a girl is dying from a botched self-administered abortion. After a recording of the physical altercation with the priest goes viral on the internet, Ruth begins to receive severe backlash from some of the hospital staff, the girl’s father, a network of social media users, and eventually, a TV panel of social activist groups. Each of the panellists question Ruth’s intention for prohibiting the priest’s entrance, who is later revealed to be a Black man, and criticize her refusal to identify with labels. The Doctor explores themes of identity, race, privilege, religion, mental health, and sexuality. In the original production, nontraditional casting methods were employed, such as color-conscious casting, to manipulate the audience’s expectations and internal biases towards identity groups. [1]
The production premiered at the Almeida Theatre on August 10, 2019. It was created and directed by Robert Icke, designed by Hildegard Bechtler, lighting was designed by Natasha Chivers and sound by Tom Gibbons. [2] It was Icke's final production as the Associate Director of the Almeida. [3] It is an adaptation of Viennese dramatist Arthur Schnitzler's 1912 play Professor Bernhardi.
English actress Juliet Stevenson's performance as Dr. Ruth Wolff in The Doctor received critical praise. Stevenson won the 2019 Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress, [4] and was nominated for both the Laurence Olivier Award and the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress. [5] Robert Icke won the Evening Standard Award for Best Director. [6] Live music was provided by drummer Hannah Ledwidge to underscore the tension and pacing within each scene. [7]
The play headlined the Adelaide Festival in early 2020, completing its run narrowly before the coronavirus pandemic closed theatres worldwide.
The Adelaide Festival cast had been contracted to play a run in the West End starting in April 2020, but this was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. [8] The play toured from 5 September 2022 [9] and opened on 29 September 2022 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. [10]
In 2021, the same creative team premiered a Dutch-language version at Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, in a translation by Aus Greidanus Jr and starring the actors of the ITA ensemble. [11] [12] A German-language version in a translation by Christina Schlögl opened at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 7 January 2022, [13] bringing the play full circle to the city where its source play, Professor Bernhardi, was originally composed. The Estonian-language version, translated by Erkki Sivonen and directed by Taago Tubin, premiered at the Ugala theatre in Viljandi on 19 March 2022 and gained positive reviews.
In 2023, the play, entitled "Docteure" in Québec, is presented by Compagnie Jean-Duceppe at Théâtre Jean-Duceppe, Place des Arts in Montréal. The lead role of Dr. Rachelle Wolff is played by actress Pascale Montpetit.
On its premiere in London, The Doctor met with positive reviews. Michael Billington of The Guardian awarded the play five stars, and praised its handling of themes like identity politics and medical ethics. [14] In another five-star review, Fiona Mountford of The Telegraph described it as: "thrilling series of games of theatricality and rugpulling in which nothing is quite what – or who – it seems. We are, the play says from its slickly impersonal set on a slow revolve, far more complex than a series of simplistic labels." [15] Writing for The New York Times , Matt Wolf gave a more mixed review, saying that the play "may not quite reach the heights" of Icke's previous work, and that "[y]ou might argue that Mr. Icke takes on more themes than he can handle." Aleks Sierz praised the play's pacing, acting and dialogue, which he described as "moving as well as energizing." [16]
It was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, in addition to Stevenson's Best Actress nomination. [17]
Character | Original Cast 2019 [2] | Adelaide Festival 2020 [18] | ITA 2021 [19] | Vienna 2022 | West End 2022 [20] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ruth Wolff | Juliet Stevenson | Janni Goslinga | Sophie von Kessel | Juliet Stevenson | |
Sami | Ria Zmitrowicz | Liv Hill | Ilke Paddenburg | Maresi Riegner | Matilda Tucker |
Father | Paul Higgins | Jamie Parker | Bart Slegers | Philipp Hauss | John Mackay |
Charlie | Joy Richardson | Nadia Amin | Sandra Selimovic | Juliet Garricks | |
Michael Copley | Oliver Alvin Wilson | Chris Colquhoun | Joy Delima | Bless Amada | Chris Colquhoun |
Paul Murphy | Daniel Rabin | Aus Greidanus jr. | Gunther Eckes | Daniel Rabin | |
Roger Hardiman | Naomi Wirthner | Maria Kraakman | Zeynep Buyraç | Naomi Wirthner | |
Jemima Flint | Nathalie Armin | Shelly Conn | Dewi Reijs | Stacyian Jackson | Preeya Kalidas |
Brian Cyprian | Pamela Nomvete | Anni Domingo | Farida van den Stoom | Ernest Allan Hausmann | Doña Croll |
Junior Doctor | Kirsty Rider | Millicent Wong | Sam Ghilane | Safira Robens | Sabrina Wu |
Rebecca Roberts | Mariah Louca | Iris Amber Stenger | Bardo Böhlefeld | Mariah Louca |
Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Evening Standard Theatre Awards | Best Director | Robert Icke [21] | Won |
Best Actress | Juliet Stevenson [22] | Nominated | ||
2019 | Critics Circle Theatre Awards | Best Actress | Juliet Stevenson | Won |
2020 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Actress | Juliet Stevenson | Nominated |
Best New Play | Robert Icke | Nominated | ||
2022 | VSCD Toneelprijzen [23] | Theo D'Or | Janni Goslinga | Nominated |
Colombina | Ilke Paddenburg | Nominated |
Dame Dorothy Tutin, was an English actress of stage, film and television. For her work in the theatre, she won two Olivier Awards and two Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress. She was made a CBE in 1967 and a Dame (DBE) in 2000.
The Almeida Theatre opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West End theatres.
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the Evening Standard newspaper. They are the West End's equivalent to Broadway's Drama Desk Awards.
Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, is an English actress of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her other film appearances include Emma (1996), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), Being Julia (2004) and Infamous (2006).
Adrian Anthony Lester is an English actor, director and writer. He is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his work on the London stage, and has also been nominated for a Tony Award.
Professor Bernhardi (1912) is one of the best known plays written by the Viennese dramatist, short story writer and novelist Arthur Schnitzler. It was first performed in Berlin at the Kleines Theater in 1912, but banned in Austria until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a result of World War I. Although billed as a "comedy in five acts", the play explores antisemitism and Austrian-Jewish identity.
Simon Coates is a British actor who has worked extensively with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, with whom he has appeared internationally, working with directors such as Sir Richard Eyre, Robert Lepage, Howard Davies, William Gaskill, Sir David Hare, Declan Donnellan, Tim Supple, Sir Tom Stoppard, David Farr, Lindsay Posner, Sean Holmes, Katie Mitchell, Indhu Rubasingham, Phyllida Lloyd, Thea Sharrock, Dame Vanessa Redgrave, Sir Trevor Nunn, Robert Icke, Simon Godwin, James Dacre, Rupert Goold, Gregory Doran, Blanche McIntyre and Sir Michael Boyd.
Rupert Goold is an English director who works primarily in theatre. He is the artistic director of the Almeida Theatre, and was the artistic director of Headlong Theatre Company (2005–2013).
Lia Williams is an English actress and director, both on stage, in film and television. Her roles have included playing Wallis Simpson in The Crown, May 33rd for which she was nominated for a BAFTA, The Missing (2016), Kiri (2016), His Dark Materials (2019-2022), and The Capture (2016-present).
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.
Laura Donnelly is a Northern Irish actress. She is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award. On television, she is known for her roles in the Starz series Outlander (2014–2017), the ITV series Beowulf (2016), and the HBO series The Nevers (2021–2023).
Robert Hugh Carvel is a British actor. He has twice won a Laurence Olivier Award: for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical, and for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Rupert Murdoch in Ink. For the latter role, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Play.
Robert Icke is an English writer and theatre director. He has been referred to as the "great hope of British theatre."
1984 is a 2013 play by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan based on the 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.
Ria Zmitrowicz is a British actress. She is known for her work in theatre, earning WhatOnStage and Manchester Theatre Award nominations, and her role in the BBC drama Three Girls (2017).
The Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress, also known as the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress since 2009, is an annual award presented by the Evening Standard in recognition of achievement in British theatre.
The Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor is an annual award presented since 1955 by the Evening Standard in recognition of achievement in British theatre.
The Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical Performance is an annual award presented since 2013 by the Evening Standard in recognition of achievement in British theatre.
The 65th Evening Standard Theatre Awards were awarded in recognition of the 2018–19 London Theatre season on 24 November 2019 at the London Coliseum. Nominations were announced on 4 November 2019. The ceremony was presented by Cush Jumbo and co-hosted by Evgeny Lebedev, Damian Lewis, Helen McCrory and Anna Wintour.
Rebecca Frecknall is a British theatre director best known for directing the 2021 West End revival of Cabaret starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley. The show received the 2022 Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Musical, and Frecknall was named Best Director, taking home both the Olivier Award and Critics' Circle Award. She is also associate director at the Almeida Theatre where she directed Summer & Smoke, Three Sisters,The Duchess of Malfi, A Streetcar Named Desire and Romeo and Juliet. Her direction of Summer & Smoke first brought her critical acclaim and showcased her ability to re-invent old works in new ways. The production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2019, with Frecknall also nominated for the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director. In 2023 she was listed by The Stage as the 13th most influential person in the theatre.