Felicity Huffman and William H Macy at Park Theatre Finsbury Park

She was supported by her husband and fellow screen star William H Macy at the press night of Hir, which was also attended by Sherlock and Strictly star Amanda Abbington.

Huffman plays Paige in Taylor Mac's black comedy - a very different kind of housewife, who has given up cooking, cleaning and household finances since her abusive husband had a stroke.

Felicity Huffman gives a pitch perfect performance in Hir at Park Theatre as a housewife who has abandoned cooking and cleaning when her abusive husband had a stroke (Image: Pamela Raith)

She also has one "trans-masc" son and another just returned from Afghanistan with PTSD. Huffman gives a pitch-perfect display of comic timing as a woman flexing her newfound freedom, and exacting revenge on her brutish husband.

Autograph hunters gathered outside the venue in Clifton Terrace to grab signatures and selfies with Macy as he arrived. The Fargo and US Shameless actor married Huffman in 1997 and the couple have two daughters.

Huffman won an Emmy for her role as Lynette Scavo in the series Desperate Housewives and earned an Oscar nomination for her role in the movie Transamerica.

Her appearance at Park Theatre is her first stage show since she was sentenced to 14 days in prison in 2019 for paying someone to take her daughter's college exam.

The Guardian said Huffman is "beautifully cast" and the "centrifugal force" of the production, while the Evening Standard called it a "forceful, bitterly comic performance," and The Telegraph described her as a "force of nature."

Hir runs at Park Theatre until March 16.