In 1981, she returned to the Royal Court for the London premiere of Brian Friel's "Faith Healer". That same year she also won acclaim for her performance in the title role of John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi", a production of Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre which was later transferred to The Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, London. Reviewing her portrayal for "The Sunday Telegraph", Francis King wrote: "Miss Mirren never leaves it in doubt that even in her absences, this ardent, beautiful woman is the most important character of the story." In her performance as Moll Cutpurse in "The Roaring Girl"—at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in January 1983, and at the Barbican Theatre in April 1983—she was described as having "swaggered through the action with radiant singularity of purpose, filling in areas of light and shade that even Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker omitted." – Michael Coveney, "Financial Times", April 1983.