Captivating leading lady provides the laughs

TheaTre review

WOMAN IN MIND Dundee Rep by Katrina Patrick A LA N A YCKBOURN’S t r agi- comedy Woman In Mind is being given a Scottish twist in director Marilyn Imrie’s lively reimagining at Dundee Rep.

A s the play opens, protagonist Susan is lying unconscious on her lawn after a classic mishap with a garden rake. She is revived by a doctor, and resumes her perfect life with champagne on the lawn, surrounded by her beautiful, loving family — but all is not as it appears.

The upper-class living is revealed to be a hallucination given form through Susan’s unfortunate accident. In reality, she is trapped in a sexless marriage to vicar Gerald, whose interest in his wife has faded in favour of writing an extensive history of the parish.

The couple’s son is estranged from them and Gerald’s infuriating sister Muriel has moved in.

A s Susan’s malaise becomes more apparent, we see her flit between her unfulfilled reality in a small Scottish town and her hallucinations of an elegantly perfect family of 1950s middle-England, until the two worlds collide with hilarious, but ultimately catastrophic results.

Meg Fraser, a former Dundee Rep Ensemble member, is never off stage as the captivating Susan, whose witty and occasionally ribald remarks on her husband’s attitude gain as much laughter from the audience as her descent into madness does empathy.

The acting is exceptional all-round, but it is Neil McKinven who steals the show as the bumbling doctor — a character who provides much of the slapstick comedy that keeps the play’s mood light despite its darker undertones.

The rhythmic dialogue, comedic turns and dark heart of A yckbourn’s 1985 play is given a new lease of life and runs until June 7.

Tragi-comedy Woman in Mind runs at Dundee Rep until June 7.