By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK? *****

WHEN? Thursday 4 December, opens 18 December and runs through 25 April 2026 RUNTIME 80 minutes (without interval)

There’s so much that’s troubling going on in the world right now that sometimes it’s easy to forget the importance of laughing daily.

• Read on for reasons including how Oh Mary! is arguably London’s funniest comedy of the moment

Oh Mary! is a comedy play written by American comedian Cole Escola (interview clip below) spoofing the lives of former US President Abraham Lincoln and wife Mary in the days leading up to his assassination.

It makes no attempt at the seriousness or historical importance of, say, Hamilton (Victoria Palace) instead portraying Mary with a fondness for the bottle propelling a ‘niche cabaret legend’ career while her husband is praying to God to stop his gay compulsions.

Oh Mary! won 2 Tony Awards, including Escola in the lead role as the 1st non-binary winner for Best Actor, and here the titular part is played by Mason Alexander Park (The Tempest, Theatre Royal Drury Lane) who deserves just as much acclaim in such a scenery-chewing and vomit-drinking breakout role.

Think Bette Davis in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? multiplied by Lady Gaga in American Horror Story and you’re not even close.

Giles Terera (Passing Strange, Young Vic) who won an Olivier of course in Hamilton brings gravitas to the Mary-loathing Lincoln who hires Dino Fetscher’s (The Normal Heart, National Theatre) handsome acting coach to teach Mary how to tread the boards and keep her away from daytime drinking.

Christmas is a great time to see Oh, Mary! because the humour is bawdy, bordering on farce and even, whisper it, pantomime and this preview audience roared with laughter, clapped appropriately and leapt to their feet at the show’s conclusion to give it a standing ovation.

At 80 minutes without interval it zips along and we think it’s giving The Producers (Garrick Theatre) across Trafalgar Square a run for its money as London’s funniest comedy

Casting is obviously hugely important and a year ago we said of Park in Jamie Lloyd’s damp squid The Tempest that it was the ‘aerial work, enchanting singing and the touching vulnerability of Mason Alexander Park playing, aptly, Ariel, a spirit freed yet bound to serve Prospero, that we came away from this much-abbreviated production most impressed by’.

They shone there but this, we feel, is the role that they were born to play and the 1 that will make their name.

Oh, Mary! loses nothing in translation and deserves to be as big a UK hit as it has been on Broadway.

• Main pictures via Facebook by Manuel Harlan courtesy Oh Mary! Tickets
• Have you seen a Mason Alexander Park show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this preview? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook