The basic premise of The Doctor is that a female Jewish doctor refuses access to Emily, her 14 year old patient by a Catholic Priest sent by her parents to give the last rites.  The doctor’s reasoning is that she doesn’t want the child to think she might die when she receives the last rites.  It is critical because the last rites have to be given whilst the girl is still alive, not dead. 

So Juliet Stevenson gives a very strong and vigorous performance as the blocking medic. She had been described by another critic, (the play was first performed at The Almeida in 2019), as “fire and ice”.  I have no problem with the coolly professional, dispassionate and detached “ice” but the “fire”, the loss of temper, shouting and going to strike her adversary is behaviour I don’t find at all credible from a hospital doctor.  Of course both “fire and ice” are superbly acted and directed, it is the script which is an issue.

The ensemble actors are strong, especially Christopher Colquhoun who now has a new middle name Osikanlu, in an identity Nigerian heritage update, as Wolff’s supportive colleague, Dr Copley.  But none of them can compete with fast talking, fast thinking, nineteen to the dozen, Professor Wolff in full intensity mode.  We see her more relaxed with her wife Charlie (Juliet Garricks) and her daughter (or son) Sami (Matilda Tucker).  Wolff finds herself in conflict with the other staff when she chooses a new colleague who is both female and Jewish.