Ben Lamb stars in the world premiere of Ragdoll, a gripping new play by Katherine Moar at Jermyn Street Theatre. Directed by Josh Seymour, the production explores fame, scandal, and redemption across two decades.
Inspired by the infamous Patty Hearst trial, Ragdoll plunges audiences into the psychedelic swirl of 1970s America and the courtroom drama of modern-day reckoning. Lamb plays The Lawyer, a pivotal figure in this tense and timely narrative.
Ragdoll runs from 9 October to 15 November 2025 at Jermyn Street Theatre. Tickets are available here.
You’re starring in Ragdoll at Jermyn Street Theatre. What can you tell us about the show?
On one level, it’s a show about the relationship between a lawyer and his client: something has gone catastrophically wrong in the life of a young woman, and her new attorney must defend her complex case. But this young woman has grown up in a 1970s America dominated by men and by wealth, and in her desperation, she clings to the lawyer’s bravado and masculinity even as cracks in his efficacy appear. Years later, it is the lawyer who must turn to his former client for help.
But on another level, it’s a story that sits at the nexus between memory and reality; a Faustian tale about the search for objective truth (if such a thing exists) and what compromises one is willing to make to find it.
Ragdoll draws inspiration from the Patty Hearst trial. What was your initial reaction to the script and its themes?
At first glance, the script has a beguiling simplicity to it. It was a quick and engrossing read, and Katherine Moar’s writing has a musicality that is very compelling.
I knew of the Hearst family, but nothing about Patty Hearst’s abduction and mistreatment by the violent Leninist cell, the ‘Symbionese Liberation Army’. I knew of F. Lee Bailey but only from his association with OJ Simpson. Ragdoll charts the collision course of two characters based on these fascinating people. In doing so, it weaves a tapestry of fact and fiction, and the characters themselves wrestle with the concept of their own identity and the reliability of their recollections.
What I found profound about the script is the way it shuns mere historical documentary, focusing instead on the universal truths so relevant to the world today. This is a play as much about the re-emergence of the Hobbesian political climate of 2025, as the celebrity lawyers of 70s California and a specific miscarriage of justice.
You’re playing The Lawyer. How did you approach preparing for this role, and what challenges did it present?
Before we started rehearsals, I was in touch with Katherine to talk about the materials she had found useful in coming up with the script. One of the exciting things about basing a character on a real person — especially someone who has written books of their own as F. Lee Bailey did — is the wealth of material that shows both how they tick, and how they would like the world to perceive them.
The Defence Never Rests is the seminal F. Lee Bailey autobiography, and you can see the little things that really get under his skin, and the achievements that make him proud, verging on pompous. Another really useful book for an overview of the story (and more of a critical look at the role F. Lee Bailey played) was American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin.
I also spent a lot of time watching documentaries about the 70s — a time of violent political activism and the tug-of-war between the different Democratic Estates.
The play spans two time periods, 1978 and 2017. How does that affect the way your character is portrayed?
Whilst trying not to give too much away, one way of looking at this play is that it’s set entirely in 2017. The younger iterations of the Lawyer and the Heiress are summoned to elucidate remembered moments (that are not necessarily altogether real), in the minds of the older characters.
In some ways we are in the realm of ‘alternative facts,’ with each character proposing their narrative as the objective version. But at the same time, the younger characters—the ‘memories’—have their own inner life and believe themselves to be complete and whole and real.
A decent chunk of the early rehearsal process was dedicated to discovering the mechanics of this process, and what constitutes reality for all of the characters in the play; which is brilliant because now I don’t need to spend all that money on a PhD in Neoplatonic Philosophy.
What’s it been like working with director Josh Seymour and the rest of the cast?
Josh’s style is perceptive and empathetic, nuanced and calm. He and Katherine Moar, our writer, have been a brilliant match, each striving to support the work of the other and the world of the play.
It’s been wonderful to get to know Katie Matsell and Abi Cruttenden, who are fantastic, and a great pleasure to reunite with Nat Parker whom I last worked with on a film in Jaipur a few years ago. The writing is like a tennis match, and I couldn’t wish for better doubles partners.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Ragdoll?
As a society, we seem to be backsliding into the 70s anyway, so whether this was a nostalgic time for you or the idea fills you with dread, come and check it out!
