Review: VENUS at Woolly Mammoth

Kicking off Woolly Mammoth’s 2026-2027 season and Reggie D. White’s tenure as Artistic Director of the theatre company is the propulsive, wildly entertaining dark rom-comedy Venus. Written by Steve Yockey (HBO’s The Flight Attendant and Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives), this new play is wonderfully of the moment, full of all our modern anxieties, peculiarities, and humor, but at its core are timeless questions about love, trust, and companionship—and what can happen when we let fear seize control. 

Venus is the story of Nicole (Regina Aquino) and Beth (Kimberly Gilbert), who recount the story of how they met, their first date, and all that follows. But do not mistake this for a love story. Venus is a play that defies expectations. It is full of surprises, with another always waiting around the corner. The story is tightly written and propulsive, beginning with a bang and a flash, the two leads spilling out, dazed, onto the stage. It is also riotously funny even in its darkest moments, a feature brought to full effect by Kimberly Gilbert’s pitch-perfect line delivery at Beth, the messy, compulsive romantic who asks Nicole out on a date at a book club for a book she absolutely did not read. Where Beth is loud and impulsive, Nicole is calm and composed—at least she is determined to be. All of Nicole’s unraveling plays out with mesmerizing precision in Regina Aquino’s portrayal, perfectly landing many of the play’s most chilling scenes. The two women mix like oil and water. In the days following their less-than-ideal first date, Nicole and Beth’s brief encounters rebound against and accelerate among their many fears and anxieties, and finally, fatefully, collide. 

Every element of Reggie D. White’s production of Venus feels perfectly aligned, working harmoniously to guide the audience through the story of Nicole and Beth’s brief but fateful relationship. Aquino and Gilbert’s characters are bold and combative and perfectly complementary on stage. Gisela Estrada’s moody, celestial set nods at the play’s more absurd elements and holds secrets of its own, and the stunning lighting design by Nic Vincent may as well be a character in its own right. All together, Venus proves itself to be a thrilling start to Woolly Mammoth’s new season. 

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