The Doctor

Juliet Stevenson reprises her Olivier-nominated performance as Professor Ruth Wolff in The Doctor. Book The Doctor tickets in the West End on TodayTix.

The Doctor is based on the 1912 play, Professor Bernhardi. Arthur Schnitzler’s original work followed a doctor treating an ill patient pre-World War One. Robert Icke then adapted The Doctor with Juliet Stevenson in the lead role for a 21st-century audience to sensational results.

After The Doctor performances at the Almeida Theatre in 2019, The Doctor was nominated for Best New Play at the 2020 Olivier Awards. The category included Leopoldstadt, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and A Very Expensive Poison.

Audiences and critics raved about The Doctor in London. London Theatre said: “[Icke’s] modernisation of Arthur Schnitzler's 105-year-old play Professor Bernhardi is a tense medical drama, but it has handed Juliet Stevenson an electrifying role in which she is absolutely mesmerising.”

The Doctor play follows Ruth Woolf, a senior physician who is called in to work on a complicated case. While looking after a young woman with sepsis, a priest is sent in to visit the patient and deliver the last rites.

It’s a decision which Ruth questions. As a result, one decision for one family is blown up in epic proportions and is the subject of national debate. Society takes side and Ruth Woolf finds herself at the centre. Can the doctor remedy this once and for all?

Make your appointment to see The Doctor. Book The Doctor tickets on TodayTix.

The Doctor matinees begin at 2:30pm and The Doctor evening performances begin at 7:30pm.

The Doctor runs for 2 hours and 45 minutes, including an interval.

Production photography of original Almeida production.

Robert Icke’s The Doctor play raises questions of identity, religion and perception in a modern-day society. The play also reunited Icke with lead actress Juliet Stevenson. Together, they’ve worked on London plays such as Hamlet and Mary Stuart, coincidentally all shows opened at the Almeida Theatre.

Juliet Stevenson reprises her Olivier Award-nominated turn as Professor Ruth Woolf in The Doctor. Christopher Osikanlu Colquhoun, Mariah Louca, Daniel Rabin, Naomi Wirthner and Hannah Ledwidge also return from the Almeida production to star in the West End transfer.

Enter the West End’s newest waiting room — the Duke of York’s Theatre — this autumn. The doctor will see you now. Book The Doctor tickets in London on TodayTix.

What to Watch For:

• Arthur Schnitzler’s 1912 drama, Professor Bernhardi, was banned when it was first published. The pre-World War One drama was banned when war broke out, and was later allowed to be staged after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.
• Director Robert Icke often adapts contemporary texts. He’s previously worked on adaptations of Oresteia, 1984, and The Crucible. He served as associate director at the Almeida Theatre from 2013 to 2019.