''Rough Magic shines with its production of Elizabeth Kuti’s marvellous new play, a richly woven piece of work that goes back to the historical past in order to make sense of the present… On a retelling of the outline tale it is almost impossible to do justice to the compelling nature of the piece, which sure-footedly negotiates the big questions… [an] intelligent and affecting piece, which stays with you long, long after it has come to an end.'' Sunday Tribune.
''**** — I feel as corseted as the female characters in trying to summarise the thematic richness of Elizabeth Kuti's excellent new play for Rough Magic Studio… Niamh Linehan is magnificent as Hannah, conveying a conflicted humanity and intelligence that allow us to experience her unravelling into fleshly indulgence as both gain and loss… This is a moving play whose themes of charity, colonialism and morality resonate deeply in today's Ireland.'' The Guardian
''No one, not even a historian, ever writes merely about the past. Especially in the theatre – which takes place in the here-and-now – the point of setting a play 150 years ago is not to anatomise Victorian society but to gain a new perspective on the present. And Elizabeth Kuti, in her fine new drama for Rough Magic, is well aware of this. The Sugar Wife may be set in the Dublin of 1850, but its real concern is with the moral dilemmas of today. The basic question it asks is how we are to live now, how we can be moral in a world where our very freedom of choice is predicated on the exploitation of others.
These questions are explored with impressive suppleness in Lynne Parker’s production. On Paul Keogan’s ingenious set, whose combination of wood and light, of austerity and beauty, neatly captures the paradoxically gorgeous simplicity of the wealthy Quaker style, the cast moves with great confidence through the shifting contours of the characters’ consciences. Barry Barnes as Samuel and Robert Price as Alfred are especially good in their scenes together, suggesting as they do that if each had a dose of the other’s virtues, he would be a pretty impressive man. Susan Salmon’s Sarah is a deliciously lush combination of epic heroism and clear-eyed cynicism.
But even in this company, Niamh Linehan is outstanding. She captures brilliantly the suppressed hysteria that lies behind Hannah’s half-dead exterior, and navigates the character’s transitions from control to crisis with riveting conviction.
It takes its place among an array of uncommon achievements in this consistently intelligent and beautifully shaped play.'' Irish Times
''The Sugar Wife is a thoughtful, intelligent, sombre piece of work.'' Sunday Independent
Posted on: 10/4/2005