Review Roundup: OUR AMERICAN QUEEN at Bridewell Theatre

Starring Wallis Currie-Wood, a new dramatisation of the life of Kate Chase, Our American Queen draws parallels between 19th and 21st century America, and the glass ceiling that's yet to be smashed in American politics. The production is now playing at Bridewell Theatre. 

Although widely forgotten now, Kate Chase was one of the most astute political minds in America at a time when women weren't yet allowed to vote. Circumventing lack of opportunities for herself, she became a strong supporter of her widowed father's three attempts – and failures – to achieve the presidency, which would have made her acting First Lady. Our American Queen charts a few months of her political life and her calculated but ultimately disastrous decisions in marriage, choosing a seemingly advantageous one over one for love.

Kate Chase is played by Wallis Currie-Wood, best known for her role of Stephanie “Stevie” McCord, daughter of the title character in the six seasons of CBS series Madam Secretary. She's joined by Tom Victor (John Villiers in Mary & George) as the man she loves, John Hay, who she sacrifices for a more beneficial marriage.

Clementine Scott, BroadwayWorld:  A debate play must not only present an issue and dramatise it, but also make a case for that issue to be brought up again now. In focusing so tightly on a few, highly privileged lives, Our American Queen fails to make sense of its story within a broader historical narrative. A tale about women’s soft political power in the 19th century sounds like a worthy proposition, but I remain unconvinced that Civil War backroom deals are the right arena for that story.

Lucinda Everett, The Guardian: Tom Victor’s sensitive Hay stokes sparks of vulnerability in Wallis Currie-Wood’s steely Kate, which later ignite a bonfire of repressed pain. Darrell Brockis is suitably impassive as Salmon, though his accent is distractingly patchy. In the end, the play’s biggest challenge becomes managing both Kate’s fictional motivations and real-world actions. It leaves us unsure about what truly drove this formidable woman.