About the Show

Mark Rylance stars in this drama about the life of an early pioneer of antiseptic medicine.

Troubled by the death toll of childbed fever in 19th-century Vienna, the maverick Doctor Semmelweis makes a discovery that could save hundreds of thousands of new mothers. But when the medical establishment questions his methods & his sanity, he finds that simply being a pioneer isn't enough.

Years later, he is haunted by the ghosts of the women he failed to save and wonders if it is too late to convince the medical establishment that he might hold the key to saving an untold number of lives.

'Dr. Semmelweis' is based on an original idea by Mark Rylance (Jerusalem), developed with writer Stephen Brown and director Tom Morris (War Horse). The show transfers to the West End after its world premiere at the Bristol Old Vic in early 2022.

Critic Reviews (11)

Dr Semmelweis is utterly fascinating in every respect, especially as it unearths such a vital piece of forgotten, or ignored, history. As a pioneer of medicine, Mark Rylance leads an impressive cast in this gripping historical drama.
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"Mark Rylance is astonishing – again – in this unsettling, atmospheric drama about the downfall of a pioneering doctor"
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"Playing a maverick doctor who discovers a ground-breaking cure, the star embodies crusading eccentricity – and dangerous monomania... [this play places] resonant emphasis on the dangers of group-think and the way medical hierarchies can crush whistleblowers. "
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“He [Rylance] makes Semmelweis hard to like. But he also lets you see inside his head, showing the thrill of being part of a new way of thinking, indicating the panic as he half realises his mind is becoming disturbed. It’s an extraordinarily subtle and emotional performance.”
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“The ending is rushed and clumsy but it doesn’t matter. One of our finest, alchemically instinctive actors is back where he belongs: onstage.”
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“Everything about the production seems designed to make you feel like you’ve had an exhilarating night at the theatre, while not wholly delivering it. It’s the trappings without the substance; many hands, making effortful work.”
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“There is humour here as well as physical theatre, music, anger, sadness, emotional nuance.”
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“This stirring tragedy gives a voice to the voiceless: not just the unfairly treated Semmelweis, but the women whose pain was ignored, and whose deaths were dismissed as routine.”
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Trailer

Creative team