Review: MR WOLF at Road Less Traveled Theater

Never trust a wolf is sheep's clothing, as the saying goes. But in this case Mr Wolf is a college professor who harbors dark secrets, delusions and young girls in his home. This disturbing plot makes for a gripping evening of theatre in Rajiv Joseph's play MR. WOLF, now playing at Road Less Traveled Theater.

The company has already presented Joseph's riveting play GUARDS AT THE TAJ and again the playwright journeys to another dark subject in MR WOLF. At the play's outset it unclear why the the teenage Theresa speaks in grandiose language and pundits the existence of infinity and God. Is this young woman autistic or just a precocious savant? Mr. Wolf rushes in frenzied, quickly trying to ready Theresa to meet the outside world-- a place she has never experienced. Wolf asks permission from her to kill himself, which he must do as the banging on the doors becomes louder. And that is the attention grabber that Joseph employs in just scene one.

The details of her background slowly unfold, making it clear she had been abducted as a young child and now will be reunited with her family.  Although her parents have divorced, her mother rushes back to the family home, where dad will soon be bring Theresa to be reunited with mom and Dad's new wife Julie.

Peter Horn is the college professor Mr. Wolf, who outwardly is your typical  professorial type who studies astronomy and lives alone in a home in the woods. Horn brings a cool calmness to his role, appearing always in control, but likely to become unhinged at any moment. Horn's nuanced, eerie portrayal is at once odd and disturbing, making all future references to him instantly despicable. Horn also swiftly  plays the other men Theresa meets outside of her new home, and in doing so dominates Theresa's thoughts at all times. We soon enough learn that Mr. Wolf has convinced Theresa that she is a  prophet and her thoughts and actions are meant to enlighten all, chosen by God himself.

Lauren Farrow is Theresa, a girl who does not understand expressed emotions of others, social interactions or how she fits into the strange outside world . Farrow is awkwardly confident, without filters, unashamed of things she does not understand. Her portrayal is full of innocence and fear, making her  a sympathetic character, even if she is not always easy to like. Often saddled with blunt dialogue that is devoid of sensitivity, Farrow's portrayal intrigues, as if her development has been socially stunted to early childhood.

Kristin Bentley expertly  inhabits the complicated role of Theresa's birth mother, Hana. Unable to cope with her daughter's disappearance 14 years prior, her marriage to Michael dissolves and she runs away to Canada. But when she is forced to reunite in her former home and meet the new wife, circumstances become sticky. Bentley is forthright and vulnerable at the same time. Hana brings demands and high expectations to her daughter's discovery.

Camilla Maxwell makes a captivating RLTP debut as Julie, the second wife who grapples with finding her  place in the complicated puzzle of this new family dynamic. Julie is everything Hana is not- calm, motherly and instinctively understanding. Not until Theresa's blunt behavior sets her over the edge, does Julie lose her calm composure. Maxwell inhabits the role with heartfelt conviction, and her interactions with Farrow bring a humanity to each of these two woman, tortured by different circumstances.

Michael is played by Dave Hayes, who embodies the concerned dad who can't always find words to express his emotions. Hayes gives an ensured  portrayal , exemplifying that  his devotion to his daughter is unwavering. In confrontation with Hana, Michael refuses to give in to her demands and proclamations of how things MUST be going forward, regarding Theresa.

Director Peter Palmisano paces the action that slowly erupts into mental chaos, as all the characters grapple with their own demons.  In one powerful scene, Horn quite literally has an overarching mental breakdown in a monologue that makes it clear this is a man who is depraved in his convoluted ideas of the world and God. With dramatic lighting by John Rickus, the set  by Collin Ranney dances with light as if on another planet, with laser beam lighting focus to heighten the drama.

Joseph's script is fascinating in the ways he explores grief- Hana runs away from it, Michael has endless hope for a positive outcome, and Julie relives her past through dreams. Theresa, having been secluded, cannot comprehend other males, and sees Mr. Wolf in every male she encounters. The effects of captivity are indeed mind altering and deftly explored in this gripping play.

MR. WOLF plays at Road Less Traveled Theater through December 14, 2025. Contact roadlesstraveledproductions.org  for more information.