There were moments, during rehearsals for The Doctor, where discussion got pretty heated. Unsurprising, perhaps, given the subject of superstar writer-director Robert Icke’s hit play: what happens after a doctor – played by Juliet Stevenson – refuses to admit a priest to the bedside of a young woman fighting for her life following a self-administered abortion.
“Of all the plays I’ve done, this is the one that has been the most discussion-led,” says Mariah Louca, who plays the PR director of the hospital where Ruth Wolff, Juliet Stevenson’s character, works. Louca joined the cast for this West End transfer of The Doctor having been involved in both the critically acclaimed original production at the Almeida theatre in 2019 and its run at the Adelaide Festival in 2020.
