Writer: Thomas Klingenstein
Director: Christopher McElroen
Step back into the 1860s in this new play focusing on American politics by theatre organisation the american vicarious. This play follows the life and legacy of Kate Chase, whom this play considers to be a significant, yet unrecognizable 19th century woman important to America.
Kate Chase (Wallis Currie-Wood) is the daughter of Salmon P. Chase (Darrell Brockis), Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury, who strives to challenge the President and his position of power. Throughout the play, Kate must wrestle with her growing affections towards Lincoln’s secretary John Hay (Tom Victor). This romance is prevented by her wish to create a marriage alliance with a Senator that could secure her family, particularly her father’s, political future.
Though Kate is the main character, Brockis, who plays her father, steals the show. His commanding aura captures the audience when he is on stage. He plays a convincing political puppeteer, though at times inadvertently, as his character fills the stage with presence.
Chase’s relationship with his daughter is complex. There is a codependency on one another, and deep love and respect, yet tensions brew. This is skillfully shown by Currie-Wood and Brockis. At times, Kate appears to be leading her father around, and at other times, this is switched. At the core of this story is a young woman who desires to prove herself useful to a father who does not understand how to properly support his daughter. Both of their hearts are in the right place, yet everyone suffers as a result. The anguish at the end of the production is particularly well done.
Another highlight of the production is the usage of the stage. A simple dining room table and a large, empty frame that occasionally changes image create a simplistic yet all-encompassing stage. The frame changes images to reflect background themes of the story, ranging from Chase’s first wife, who Kate is named after, to the Civil War, to Chase himself, who watches the scenes unfold to his wishes. There are also times when live feed of the actors on stage appears on the frame to highlight the symbolic importance of a particular scene. When the father and daughter fight, leading to Currie-Wood storming off stage, but not before dragging the cutlery and tablecloth into the audience.
This production does suffer from pacing. Some scenes suffer from a feeling of forced purpose. For example, the scenes between Kate and General George McCellan (Haydn Hoskins) feel out of place. The two characters mainly reminisce on their prior romance and discuss McCellan’s support for Kate’s father. The dialogue itself flows easily between the two, but the purpose of having McCellan appear is clearly to show the lengths Kate has gone to secure her father’s victory. These scenes do not always flow well with the others and feel adrift, which is puzzling given the importance McCellan’s political decisions have on Chase’s political aspirations. Overall, this production adds important value to a woman who is forgotten by history.
Runs until 7 February 2026
