Based on a true experience by writer and retired Psychiatrist Julian Bird. The Psychiatrist retells one of Bird’s cases about a young female patient who has deep-rooted trauma from her childhood and struggling with ” body dysfunction dysmorphia”.

Stephanie Okoye gives an outstanding performance in the roles of the patient and his psychotherapist. At one point I had to look at her fingernails to be sure it was the same actor.  Considering this was Okoye‘s first major role I was especially moved by her powerful role as the patient when she let down her barriers temporarily and graphically relived some of her horrendous trauma.

There’s another stand-out powerful scene where he asks her to look at herself in the mirror, consumed with hatred she smashes the mirror immediately. Many in the auditorium jumped as the mirror broke.

Julian Bird is currently in hospital after suffering from an accident. The matinee performance on Saturday 12th April 2025 was played by the play’s director Kenneth Michaels.

Script in hand Michaels delivers a strong performance as The Psychiatrist, especially while he is searching through his abandonment trauma and trying to seek the help he requires, thus allowing him to move forward, to continue helping his patients. It didn’t matter how many committees or promotions he was given he still struggled with elements of “imposter syndrome”.

In this particular play holding the script added a touch of realism to the ageing Psychiatrist, you could believe that he was reading back through his notes to ensure that the patient’s details were correct.

The Psychiatrist is a challenging watch and there’s some elements that left me disgusted. However, mental health and events that create trauma aren’t comfortable and nice events they are often events out of our control that we witness and are left helpless to stop.

Four Stars.

Photo credit Paddy Gormley.

For more information about The Psychiatrist and future productions at The White Bear please visit the link below.

https://www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk/

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/body-dysmorphia/