Lolly Adefope to make her West End debut in Oh, Mary!
by Best of Theatre Staff on Monday 10 August 2026, 11:59 am in Cast Changes and Announcements
BAFTA-nominated Lolly Adefope will make her West End debut as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! at the Trafalgar Theatre, playing a 10-week season from 28 September until 5 December 2026.
Producers Kevin McCollum & Lucas McMahon and Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia have announced that Lolly Adefope will make her West End debut as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! at the Trafalgar Theatre. She will play a 10-week season from 28 September until 5 December 2026.
The Olivier and Tony Award-winning smash hit comedy, written by Cole Escola and directed by Sam Pinkleton, is now booking until 2 January 2027.
Lolly Adefope is a British actress best known for her role in the hit sitcom Ghosts, from the team behind Horrible Histories, which ran for five seasons and won the Broadcast Press Guild Award for Best Comedy in 2024. Ghosts returns for a final outing as a feature film, Ghosts: The Possession of Button House, in October. Most recently she starred opposite Himesh Patel and Richard E. Grant in the HBO superhero satire The Franchise, earning a BAFTA nomination for Female Performance in a Comedy, and she will soon be seen in Apple TV's Prodigies.
Her other credits include Shrill, This Time With Alan Partridge, Black Mirror, Miracle Workers, Motherland, Lovesick and Stath Lets Flats, as well as the film Wicked Little Letters. Named one of The Guardian's Rising Stars of 2017 and one of Vanity Fair's Rising Stars of 2025, she has also appeared on Taskmaster, The Last Leg, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown and QI.
Oh, Mary! currently stars Cole Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln, Giles Terera as Mary's Husband, Dino Fetscher as Mary's Teacher, Kate O'Donnell as Mary's Chaperone and Oliver Stockley as Mary's Husband's Assistant. From 17 August until 26 September, Jinkx Monsoon will play Mary Todd Lincoln alongside Scott Karim as Mary's Husband. Full casting for 28 September onwards is to be announced.
Oh, Mary! is a dark comedy about a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The 80-minute one-act play premiered off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in January 2024 before transferring to Broadway's Lyceum Theatre in July 2024, where it broke box office records. It had its West End premiere at the Trafalgar Theatre on 3 December 2025 and won Best Entertainment or Comedy Play at this year's Olivier Awards. This autumn it also launches a US national tour.
Alongside Cole Escola and Sam Pinkleton, the creative team includes dots (scenic designer), Holly Pierson (costume designer), Cha See (lighting designer) and Daniel Kluger (sound design and music).