Playwright: Kate Hennig. At. TimeLine ( sic ) Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave. Tickets: 773-281-8463; TimelineTheatre.com; $22-$51. Runs through: Dec. 18
"Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived" has helped generations of students recall the six wives of Henry VIII, the last of whom, Catherine Parr, lived on when Henry died in early 1547. This 2015 play vividly portrays Queen Catherine and Henry, an absolute monarch of unparalleled power in English history, who grew increasingly dangerous, fickle and paranoid as he was beset by illness and age. As Henry himself observes in this smart play, "I am capricious. That makes me a fascist, not a liberal."
Such modern political terminology defines the gimmick of this play: Sixteenth-century situations and people ( Henry reigned 1509-1547 ) are presented in modern dress, speaking modern English. Henry ( Steve Pickering of bulldog build projecting power and nuanced pugnacity ) is an arbitrary, all-powerful, dictatorial executiveVladimir Putin comes to mindas cagey as he is ruthless, who is capable of vulgar charm but also of violent whim. His opposite number, Catherine ( statuesque Anji White, projecting steely elegance, arrogance and allure ), is fully his equal in intellect and ability, but without official office through which to exhibit her qualities, let alone display leadership.
Indeed, the disenfranchisement of women through most of history is one of the play's chief points ( with a handful of exceptions from Hatshepsut to Catherine the Great, Margaret Thatcher to, maybe, Hillary Clinton ). The Last Wife is not the first play, by any means, to demonstrate how women exercise power behind-the-scenes through brains, influence, sexuality, alliance, spirituality, whatever. Henry's last years were especially precarious and dangerous, and this play successfully portrays the tightrope even Henry's queen had to walk to survive, let alone thrive.
The play minimizes the complex religious politics in that era when England had recently split from the Church of Rome, politics which brought Catherine within hours of execution. However, it does successfully portray Catherine's intervention on behalf of Henry's daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, who probably never would have been queens of England without Catherine. In effect, she was a mother to them and to Henry's only legitimate son, the future Edward VI.
Within this historic complexity, playwright Kate Hennig makes Henry and Catherine fully fleshed-out, complicated human beings. For example, in a modern understanding, Catherine is sexually hesitant with Henry because she was scarred by an earlier rape. Supporting characters are two-dimensionalHenry's children and Catherine's erstwhile lover ( and hubby after Henry )even if nicely played by, respectively, Paola Sanchez Abreu ( Mary ), Peyton Shaffer ( Elizabeth ), Matthew Abraham ( Edward ) and Nate Santana ( Thomas Seymour ). The Last Wife belongs to Catherine and Henry alone, and White and Pickering deliver vigorous performances under skilled, sure-handed veteran director Nick Bowling.
Regina Garcia's stylish alley-style scenic design and Victor Deiorio's effective sound/music meet TimeLine's usual high production standards.