I got swept up in Sheridan Smith's performance in Woman in Mind ahead of Sunderland Empire run

Fitting that an everyday garden implement should trigger the narrative for this fascinating piece of storytelling, which looks at whether the grass is indeed greener on the other side.

The other side being a more passionate, loving, playful family (or are they?) imagined by the very suburban Susan, played by Sheridan Smith.

Forty years after it was first performed, the play, directed by Michael Longhurst, has been revived for a limited West End run at The Duke of York Theatre, before heading to Sunderland next month for one of just two tour dates.

Ahead of its arrival on Wearside, I went along to the West End theatre to see what we can expect.

Four decades on and the play’s insight into the mind of a woman who doesn’t feel seen still seems strikingly fresh and resonates more sharply in an era more aware of mental health.

It’s an intense watch as we see Susan’s disorientation spiral into a fractured reality where the lines become increasingly blurred between her real family, and the humdrum tea-drinking of everyday life, and a more vivid, passionate alternate family set up, where her daughter showers her with praise and appreciation and her husband scoops her up with passion.

Susan’s imagined family portrays her ache for more than the mundane in life, and it’s a yearning that’s brilliantly portrayed by Sheridan as she flits between drinking tea with her dreary sister-in-law to dancing with her creepily upbeat daughter.

Sheridan shines as an everyday woman teetering on the brink and is truly compelling to watch.

It’s a piece that’s darkly comic, with many ripples of laughter induced by comedian Romesh Ranganathan as doctor Bill, who is the first on the scene after Susan’s accident.

This is actually his West End debut, but it doesn’t show as he inhabits this awkwardly jovial, avuncular character who becomes a link between both of Susan’s worlds.

As the play progresses, Susan’s entire being gradually unravels, her lipstick smudges over the lip line, her pin-up style hair now tousled, as she struggles to centre herself in reality.

It results in a mental myriad of confusion for a garish nightmare denouement as Susan frantically attempts to make sense of her worlds as they bleed into each other in this rich psychological comedy that really stands the test of time.

The Empire is more associated with musicals, but if you’re looking for a more challenging night at the theatre, this play is definitely worth bearing in mind.

Woman in Mind plays Sunderland Empire from Wednesday 4 until Saturday 7 March 2026 and Theatre Royal, Glasgow from 10 March until 14 March 2026.

Tickets for Sunderland Empire available at https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/woman-in-mind/sunderland-empire/