Review: WILD HORSES at Penfold Theatre

The effervescent Jennifer Coy Jennings has become so synonymous with the role of Woman in WILD HORSES here in Austin, that the mind is thrown off to see other faces out there on the interwebs when researching the play. It stands to reason, as Jennings won an Outstanding Actress in a Drama B. Iden Payne Award for her performance, and was also recognized by the Austin Critic’s Table for her work in this show. First mounted and produced by the Vortex Theatre in 2017 under Rudy Ramirez’s deft directorial ability, WILD HORSES is back, this time also under Ramirez’s direction at the Penfold Theatre in Round Rock.

Written by acclaimed playwright Allison Gregory and developed through the National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere program, WILD HORSES is a 1970s coming-of-age memory play told through the voice of a woman reflecting on a pivotal summer of youth. Gregory’s storytelling revisits fierce friendship, budding sexuality, rebellion, and the longing for freedom that marked her adolescence. At the heart of the story is a reckless plan hatched by three girls to free a group of captive horses—an adventure that becomes both literal escapade and powerful metaphor. Often described as a one-woman thrill ride through adolescence, the play balances humor and nostalgia with darker emotional currents, capturing the volatility of youth and the memories that linger long after.

Holly and Patrick Crowley surround Jennings’s Woman with a set that simultaneously feels current while parking her right in the 1970’s. Much of the flavor and tone of this production is thanks to a soundtrack that calls for a playlist on Apple. The power music wields in this play is a welcome emotional regulation that draws us into the nostalgic story so much so, that the wild world outside is engulfed by, well, WILD HORSES.

Penfold Theatre Co-Artistic Director Nathan Jerkins shared with me his excitement about remounting the production, noting that this time Jennings brings her experience as a mother to the show. The brief conversation left me with the sense that Jennings now carries a more pensive and lived-in perspective to the role that my late colleague and dear friend Frank Benge described in his 2017 BroadwayWorld review as “remarkable,” “stunning,” and a “tour de force.” No less remarkable than her first turn at the character, this production reveals a more measured and reflective performance from Jennings, whose bold and saucy vein of gold is often on display in shows such as MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL. Here, however, Jennings leans fully into the craft of storytelling, commanding the stage with the physical and emotional dexterity required to embody a constellation of characters while carrying the entire narrative alone. The result feels less like a solo performance and more like a shared act of memory—one that resonates deeply with anyone who remembers the friendships, rebellions, and fleeting summers that quietly shape a life.

Gregory’s play reminds us of a time when many of us learned more about life from our reckless friends than from the adults meant to guide us. A hilarious “kissing lesson” might be approached cautiously and may land a little differently for modern audiences, but it plays less as provocation than recognition. It’s a refreshing, freeing, honest snapshot of adolescence, when curiosity, bravado, and a lack of supervision often collide. Jennings navigates the moment with humor and tenderness, allowing it to feel like another imperfect memory surfacing from that long-ago summer. And when the play’s deeper truth finally reveals itself late in the story, the laughter and nostalgia give way to something more reflective. In the end, WILD HORSES becomes less about an obvious plot about horses than the brief, untamed hidden curriculum of youth when we believed we might run just as freely ourselves—before life inevitably, built its fences.

WILD HORSES
by Allison Gregory

February 27 - March 15, 2026
Penfold Theatre
2120 North Mays Street
Rock Creek Plaza
Round Rock, TX, 78664