I wanted to start by saying when watching this play, it was unfortunate that I didn’t see Julian Bird who is the writer and star of The Psychiatrist and plays Dr Andrew Faulkner in the key role. A day before press night he sustained an injury, so the producer Alistair Brown stood in for him, with script in hand to give his best shot.
Hardly ideal, but Alister Brown is a trained actor himself, and you can’t knock him for standing in, and it’s hardly a surprise that he wasn’t particularly effective, but maybe I’m being too harsh.
The play is based on real events and portrays a psychiatrist’s struggles with poor resources, whilst trying to achieve a better life for his patients. There are two narratives that intertwine with each other during this two-hander play. The psychiatrist being a patient himself while also him trying to help someone called Alice (Stephanie Okoye) who is struggling herself. Stephanie plays the therapist of the doctor too.
The narrator in-between the scenes was pre-recorded by Julian Bird, and it added some depth to the storyline and gave you a glimpse of what his performance will be like when he returns.
You wouldn’t realise that it was Stephanie’s debut as a professional actor as she was unbelievably good. The way she switches between the two characters that she plays (Alex and Dr Zara Templeton) is challenging, but she made you believe in the two characters as separate entities.
When watching Dr Zara Templeton, I was remined of me and my therapist. I was coping with anger issues just like the character in the play. Also, one detail that I noticed and related to was when Stephanie was playing Alex she was fiddling with her hair ties around her wrist, which I remember doing myself in therapy. In fact, I still do it.
The overall theme is mental health and the issues with the funding needed to help battle it. The Psychiatrist tackles this with insight and sympathy which is its greatest success. The script could do with some work as sometimes you don’t quite know what is going on, but there were some genuinely funny moments, which comes as a welcome relief given the subject matter.
The White Bear theatre in Kennington, where this is on for three weeks is a quaint and cozy pub/theatre, which for me worked, because with a two-hander with characters talking about their deepest concerns, an intimate theatre is the right type of setting.
The set is effective and makes you feel like you are in the therapist chair yourself. You are right there with the action.
At the end of the day, it was hard to get a true feel for the play without the writer/star, however, I saw enough to think that this play has a great future.
If you haven’t seen my interview with Julian Bird and Stephanie Okoye, find it below