Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Juliet Stevenson stuns in the New York transfer of THE DOCTOR, Robert Icke’s astute psychological and moral thriller

• By drediman
• July 18, 2023
• No Comments

This past weekend, I caught up with The Doctor by Robert Icke, an auteur who continues his association with Park Avenue Armory with this New York transfer (last summer, the British theater-maker re-mounted his acclaimed productions of Hamlet and Oresteia in repertory). Originally presented by London’s esteemed Almeida Theatre and subsequently staged in the West End, the play is an astute psychological thriller about Ruth Wolff, a renowned physician whose fierce commitment to her vocation is threatened by her critics, especially after the occurrence of an incident pertaining to the involvement of religion in her practice.

The play comes in the mold of your classic moral tug-of-war drama (think Ibsen’s seminal A Doll’s House, as well as the playwright’s Enemy of the People). The refreshing thing about The Doctor, however, is how open to interpretation it is. By staunchly refusing to give clear answers or any semblance of a moralistic compass, Icke asks audiences to lean in on and base their opinions on their takeaways from the play’s absorbing escalating debates about the manner in which healthcare should be best administered. Indeed, over the course of the play, don’t be surprised if your allegiance toggles from one side to the other on various occasions. At the end of the day, Icke seems to be suggesting that there are no right answers to the questions raised, particularly in a society scrutinized and controlled by stakeholders.

In addition to penning the powerful work, Icke also acts as director, as he has with many of his plays (including the aforementioned ones at the Armory). He’s given The Doctor a tense, austere presentation — which is brilliantly accentuated by live percussive accompaniment — that leans in on the pressure cooker quality of the text. As Ruth, the great Julia Stevenson handily leads the precisely-acted production, stunning in a towering performance that burns with an uncompromising, unrelenting passion that threatens to engulf the play’s proceedings with the character’s willful ferocity — even when she’s seemingly on the wrong side of the argument.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE DOCTOR
Off-Broadway, Play
Park Avenue Armory
2 hours, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Through August 19