THEATRE PREVIEW

MARCH 2026 | Volume 261

 

Epic Comic-Tragic History

Kat Sandler’s Wildwoman, in director Jamie King’s ambitious Gateway production, begins as goofy comedy but ends as something quite different. Set in 16th century France, its characters speak and behave like our contemporaries (high fives, “douchebag”), a theatrical technique that has become common in shows set in the past. It tells an amusing, sometimes fascinating story with strong acting and design, but takes a long, padded time to tell it.

The title character, Catherine de Medici of Italy (Synthia Yusuf), arrives in France at the age of 14 to wed 14-year-old Prince Henry (Nathan Kay), who will become heir to the French throne. Much like Henry VIII’s wives in England, Catherine (or Cathy or babe, as Henry calls her) is under heavy pressure to bear male children. But after many funny, awkward, painful sex scenes, Cathy can’t get pregnant. Years pass, then decades.

Meanwhile, Didi (N Girgis), Henry’s older mistress, gifts him a hairy wild man (Connor Suart), captured abroad. Dubbed Pete, the wild man and Cathy bond. But Pete becomes betrothed to Cathy’s maid, Kitty (Elizabeth Barrett). And though Cathy and Henry can’t seem to have kids, Kitty becomes serially pregnant by Pete. Faced with threats of death and hell unless she bears male heirs, Cathy arranges to have sex with Pete, and gets pregnant. Problem is, some of Pete and Kitty’s babies are born hairy.

That’s only one problem as Henry becomes increasingly domineering and bullying, giving Kitty and Pete’s children away and brutalizing Cathy. Yet Cathy,too, proves to be equally Machiavellian and violent when she gets the chance. Power corrupts and absolute power appears to corrupt even would-be feminists.

The acting is excellent across the board. Kay is very funny in Henry’s early scenes but transforms into a really nasty egomaniac. Yusuf gives Cathy real substance. Even as a kid, she shows interest in politics and clearly wants and deserves to be more than just a baby-machine. As her frustrations and boredom build, she develops work-arounds. But late in the play, obsessed with Pete and eager to rid herself of competitors, she looks to be developing into a tyrannical monster.

All this takes place against the backdrop of Narda McCarroll’s beautiful gilded court set (Trump would love it). Along with Gerald King’s lighting, especially during set changes, Alaia Hamer’s period costumes, and Nancy Tam’s dramatic sound,everything works to create a strong sense of epic history.

But the second act goes on and on, with multiple scenes and numerous set changes doing what a single scene in effective theatrical shorthand might do. And the play gets pretty dark. It’s hard to watch characters you root for—the funny guy; the smart, attractive woman who overcomes her obstacles—turn so very unlovable, as ifA Midsummer Night’s Dreamwere to transform into Richard III.

 

 

 

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