‘It’s taken its toll’: Doctor Foster star quits play about child murderer that made her ill
HER West End performance as a distraught mother whose daughter is abducted and murdered has been lauded by critics.
But Suranne Jones has been forced to pull out of the play Frozen with a mystery illness after the ‘deeply affecting’ storyline ‘took its toll’ on her.
Miss Jones, 39, said she was ‘so gutted and so sorry’ to be leaving before the end of the 12-week run.
The mother of one, who had missed the last four shows, yesterday said she was quitting the play. Her doctor had advised her against returning and risking becoming ill again.
She said the harrowing subject matter of the production, which is about a mother whose daughter is kidnapped, is likely to have contributed to her feeling under the weather.
In a Instagram post, the star, most recently seen on TV in Doctor Foster, said: ‘Dear all. I’m so sorry I couldn’t make the last 4 shows. I was taken off the matinee on Thursday half way through the show as I felt so dizzy when I was on stage and my wonderful understudy finished the show.
‘I came back after an illness and it was perhaps too soon ... anyone who knows the show knows it is a highly draining piece and after three months and a sickness I just wasn’t able to end the run.
‘I was so hoping to make it back for you all tonight but my doctor eventually said I shouldn’t put myself through it and risk getting ill again. So gutted and so sorry to those I missed.’
The actress continued: ‘This show has taken its toll on me and the subject matter was deeply affecting.
‘You as the audience experience it once and always say how you are moved and drained by it. I’m certain it has contributed to my feeling under the weather.
‘We as performers always think we can push through and carry on but sometimes we just can’t.’ She added that she was going to rest before she moves onto her next project Gentleman Jack, an eight-part drama written by acclaimed playwright Sally Wainwright that will be shown on BBC1.
Miss Jones has been starring in Frozen at The Theatre Royal Haymarket since February. The show, which is running for only 12 weeks, follows a woman whose child goes missing, and how this dreadful fate connects her to two strangers. Tormented characters are something of a speciality for Miss Jones. In the award-winning BBC show Doctor Foster she played a GP driven to madness after discovering her husband’s affair.
‘I shouldn’t put myself through it again’