Review: ATP presents the shockingly unexpected tale of WILDWOMAN with a wickedly modern twist

Whenever I attend a show I try to shy away from too many reviews or summaries since I find the information and opinions can impact my enjoyment and absorption of the content. Having said that, I was not at all prepared for what Wildwoman brought to the stage! I saw the tagline “Based on the shocking true story that inspired Beauty and the Beast” and immediately envisioned a slightly more mature version of the Disney classic. I am here to tell you, that is not the case. I feel I need to put a bit of a disclaimer out into the world about the explicit content of this show. It is superbly funny for the first while, with sexual innuendos and some not-so-subtle social commentary about modern youth. This escalates quite quickly into some rather graphic sexual acts, followed by some not-so-subtle representations of domestic abuse, and eventually some startlingly bleak tales of child exploitation, and birth trauma. It is certainly intentional, the light-hearted banter, occasionally punctuated by a true and horrifying truth about personal suffering that halts the action and makes us as audience members question whether we should laugh or cry. These moments are then quickly forgotten as the story carries away in another, less dark direction, but it is for that reason that we must take pause and think more deeply about these issues. It draws more attention to the absurdity of how socially ‘normal’ some of these awful incidents are, or how willing we are to collectively ignore such issues and feel appalled when those issues are brought out into the open. I originally thought it was my prudish nature that set of those alarm bells, but soon realized that Kat Sandler’s skill as a writer was forcing these hard truths to the surface as a way of creating some much-needed social commentary.

What I think is important to note is that this show has a very specific audience, one that is not easily offended, not afraid of sex, violence, and psychological distress, and has a mindset willing to look deeper into the human psyche to see how the stage representation is conveying some very real, modern issues. As with most stage productions, the first half is certainly lighter and perhaps a bit more hopeful - the second act has shed all pretense of a happily ever after, and the audience is forced to follow our heroine down a deep, dark, spiral. I won’t get into the specifics of the story since the plot, character arcs, and overall feel of the show is what makes it so impactful. 

On leaving the theatre, it was fascinating to hear the discussions about the progression of each character over the course of the story and whether they were pitied, admired, or wrongfully judged for their behaviours. It is definitely the type of show that leaves a lasting impression and makes you question human nature, morality, and whether we have really advanced much from the barbaric rituals of our predecessors. 

It’s important to note that the set and props were a real spectacle and helped to immerse us in the world of the play. The wardrobe was impeccable, with such admirable attention to detail, and of course the changes in wardrobe helped to guide the transformations of the characters as well. The entire show had incredibly high production value and was beautifully executed by an imaginative creative team.