United Players of Vancouver spotlight a dysfunctional royal couple in The Last Wife, September 7 to October 1
Comedy-tinged play by Kate Hennig explores the marriage of King Henry VIII and his sixth wife, Katherine Parr
The Last Wife. Photo by Nancy Caldwell
United Players of Vancouver present The Last Wife at the Jericho Arts Centre from September 7 to October 1; talkbacks take place on September 14 and 17
HENRY VIII, who served as king of England from 1509 until his death in 1547, is perhaps most famous for having been married a whopping six times.
His sixth and final wife before his death, Katherine Parr, didn’t have much choice in the matter (declining a king’s marriage proposal meant dire consequences). But it’s certain that she was a passionate, intelligent woman pulled into a relationship of deceit and obedience.
This fascinating slice of history is the subject of The Last Wife, a production written by Kate Hennig and brought to the stage by the United Players of Vancouver. Directed by Laura McLean, the comedy-tinged show takes a hard look at women’s rights and sexual politics in a time of flourishing patriarchy.
The Last Wife first premiered at Ontario’s Stratford Festival in 2015, and went on to be shortlisted for the Carol Bolt Award later that year. It has since been performed several times across Canada, the U.S., and Australia.
Hennig’s successful three-part Queenmaker Series of plays explores themes of women, power, and history. Along with The Last Wife, the series includes The Virgin Trial (2017), in which Elizabeth I is caught in the middle of a sexual impropriety scandal as a teenager; and Mother’s Daughter (2019), which follows the struggles of Mary, the first queen regnant of England.
The cast for The Last Wife features Courtney Shields as Kate (Katherine Parr); Matthew Bissett as Henry (King Henry VIII); and Mehdi Lamrini as Thom (Henry’s former brother-in-law).
Also starring as King Henry VIII’s three children are Junita Thiessen as Mary (Mary I, Henry’s eldest child); Lauren Alberico as Bess (Elizabeth I), and Rickie Wang as Eddie (Edward VI, who ultimately became successor to the throne at age 9 after his father’s death, and reigned until age 15 when he succumbed to a terminal illness).
United Players of Vancouver was founded in 1959 by English theatre artists Gwen Crowe and Eileen Oliver. Since then, the company has flown through over 60 years of exciting theatre, and is led today by artistic director Sarah Rodgers.
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