If you like the plays you see to ‘show, not tell’, you had better sit this one out. The ‘stand and deliver’ moments from Jessica Parks (Rosamund Pike) were very good. They were warm, engaging and often amusing. But it felt at times as though I was at a one-person comedy hour at the Edinburgh Fringe. Except I wasn’t – for one thing, the seats in the National Theatre are substantially more comfortable. Jessica, a crown court judge, flitted between self-deprecation and self-assertiveness, and seemed to want to separate her ‘legal’ (or work) self from her ‘mother’ (or home) self. She has good reason for not wanting to pass judgement on her husband, Michael Wheatley (Jamie Glover), or their son Harry (Jasper Talbot) at the kitchen table in the same manner in which she would pass judgement on a defendant in her court. Of course, as Jessica would certainly immediately point out, she doesn’t pass judgement, in terms of declaring them guilty or not, on a defendant anyway. The jury does that.
It’s an accessible storyline – Jessica is a judge and Michael is a lawyer, though Suzie Miller’s script, meticulously researched as it is, is not laced with so much legal terminology that one can’t follow what is going on. Still, when Harry kisses Amy, an unseen character (a point, I suppose, that Miller is trying to make in itself – the woman’s perspective often goes largely unrecognised) and they indulge in, ahem, bedroom activity (also unseen, in case anyone was wondering), the morning after the night before sees Amy taking to social media. It was a question of consent, y’see, or perhaps the lack thereof.
This, then, gives both Jessica and Michael (or was it Michael and Jessica?) cause to debate and argue over how to approach defending Harry in a forthcoming case brought by the Crown Prosecution Service. Michael would rather get what Jessica calls “the most expensive high-profile King’s Counsel”, and Jessica’s alternative suggestion is flatly rejected by an assertive Michael. The dramatic tension between all three characters goes beyond the usual teenage rebellion against or awkwardness towards the said teen’s parents, and there are some deep-seated issues that credibly come to light.
The play seems to miss a trick, however, in providing Jessica with so many direct addresses to the audience, but not giving Michael or Harry the same opportunity. It therefore felt like a single-perspective show more often than not, even though the other two characters have plenty of dialogue. A brief demonstration of Jessica with some friends enjoying some karaoke was indicative of how a good show might have been a great one if it had, as I began by saying, went for dramatization more than exposition overall.
In some ways, it’s the kind of story that has happened before: there are certain standards and principles that a central character feels they must uphold in any and all situations, until something happens to their own offspring, and all of a sudden, there are caveats and mitigating circumstances after all. The play offers much commentary on a number of pertinent contemporary issues, such as work/life balance, unreasonable expectations of working mothers, unknown expectations of teenage boys and young men, and the various ways in which the criminal justice system can be manipulated, or at least used to one’s advantage.
On 4 September 2025, a performance of Inter Alia will be captured live from the National Theatre and broadcast to cinemas across the UK and Ireland. There will be additional screenings in UK and Ireland cinemas from 18 September 2025, and internationally from 25 September 2025. It is worth catching then, if the current run’s dates don’t quite work out for you. Rosamund Pike is a convincing tour de force, giving her central character a wide range of palpable emotions. A worthy and worthwhile experience: there’s even a bit of actor-musicianship to enjoy too.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Jessica Parks is smart, compassionate, a true maverick at the top of her career as an eminent London Crown Court Judge. At work she’s changing and challenging the system one case at a time. But behind the robe, Jessica is a karaoke fiend, a loving wife and a supportive parent.
While managing the impossible juggling act faced by every working mother, an event threatens to throw her life completely off balance. Can she hold her family upright?
Michael Wheatley – Jamie Glover
Jessica Parks – Rosamund Pike
Harry Wheatley – Jasper Talbot
Alternate Jessica Parks – Louisa Clein
Ensemble – Esma Akar, Liliana Argenio-Winch, Ella Critchell, Charles Dark, Ayrton English, Luke Garner-Greene, Sammy Jones, Thomas Michaelson
Writer – Suzie Miller
Director – Justin Martin
Set and Costume Designer – Miriam Buether
Lighting Designer – Natasha Chives
Movement and Intimacy Director – Lucy Hind
Composers – Erin LeCount and James Jacob PKA Jawkab
Music Director – Nick Pinchbeck
Sound Designers – Ben and Max Ringham
Video Designer – Willie Williams for Treatment Studio
Casting Directors – Alastair Coomer CDG and Naomi Downham
Voice Coach – William Conacher
Legal Consultant – Danielle Manson
Staff Director – Grace Duggan
INTER ALIA
Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX
10 July to 13 September 2025
Book Tickets for Inter Alia
