Anne-Marie Duff delivers a commanding performance in Helen Edmundson’s new drama, currently playing at the National Theatre’s Dorfman space until November 21. While her portrayal of Julie—a mother and professional managing the fallout of a chance encounter—is deeply convincing, the play itself struggles to maintain credibility due to a disjointed and often implausible plot. O pposing forces tug against each other in this new drama as Anne-Marie Duff is magnificent amid playwright Helen Edmundson’s implausible plotting. The result is a failed suspension of disbelief yet a convincing central performance. But this is not a courtroom drama and the alleged crimes on which it turns are simply not believable.
The story follows Julie, whose life is upended following a tense confrontation with an 11-year-old boy at a London tube station. After the child insults her, the subsequent legal repercussions spiral in ways that feel disconnected from reality. Despite these structural weaknesses, the play effectively highlights systemic issues regarding everyday misogyny and the ways the legal system can marginalize women’s accounts in favor of men, including those as young as the boy in this scenario. A mother, ex-wife and working woman whose already over-burdened life is turned upside down by an incident at a tube station when an 11-year-old boy randomly and aggressively insults her, duff plays Julie. Now we see her life virtually destroyed by the boy’s allegation. Especially that the legal system is rigged to distrust women and believe men (or an 11-year-old boy in this instance), the points about everyday misogyny come through loud and clear. This play is stuffed full of important issues, as a story of an ordinary middle-aged woman being buffeted by patriarchal forces around her. Laughed off by those around Julie, we hear stories of casual sexual abuse.
Director Blanche McIntyre presents the production without an interval, attempting to lean into the intensity of the subject matter. However, the script complicates its own message by crowding the narrative with secondary plot points that are never fully realized. These include Julie’s strained relationships with her daughters, portrayed by Grace Doherty and Hannah Onslow, as well as unresolved threads involving her experiences with infidelity and divorce. These supporting characters often appear too thin to ground the high-stakes drama.
While the premise lacks narrative rigor, the production features several harrowing moments that resonate with the audience. A central confrontation between Julie and the boy’s father, played by Stephen Wight, stands out as a high point, creating a visceral sense of tension and fear that momentarily overrides the script’s broader inconsistencies.
Ultimately, the play serves as a portrait of an individual confronting structural sexism and toxic masculinity in her daily life. Julie’s refusal to accept the victimhood forced upon her—maintaining her truth despite the severe personal and legal costs—provides a powerful, heroic core to the performance. While the writing occasionally collapses under the weight of its own improbable turns, Duff’s commitment to the role ensures that the central critique of prejudice remains the production’s defining, albeit inconsistent, feature. Reasonably, and in a series of unconvincing plot turns, winds up facing a legal battle and potential prison sentence, she challenges him.
