{"id":48560,"date":"2026-03-13T01:51:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T08:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=48560"},"modified":"2026-03-12T08:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T15:48:31","slug":"an-urgent-play-to-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/an-urgent-play-to-see\/","title":{"rendered":"An urgent play to see"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>Synthia Yusuf<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 stars in Kat Sandler<\/span><\/i>\u2019<i><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">s Wildwoman, which runs March 26 to April 4 at Gateway Theatre, a co-production with Alberta Theatre Projects. <\/span>(photo by David Cooper)<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><\/i>\u201c<i>Wildwoman<\/i> is a story that celebrates women who refuse to be silenced and reminds us that theatre can be funny, wild, fearless and alive. With such an amazing cast and design team, we are thrilled to bring this sumptuous theatrical production to life on our stage,\u201d said Barbara Tomasic, executive artistic director of Gateway Theatre, where Toronto Jewish community member Kat Sandler\u2019s play can be seen March 26 to April 4. (Sandler also wrote <i>Yaga<\/i>, which Crave is making into a series.)<\/p>\n<p><i>Wildwoman<\/i> reimagines 16th-century French history, specifically the story that helped shape the legend of Beauty and the Beast. It centres on Catherine de Medici, the new wife of King Henry II of France, who is played at Gateway by Synthia Yusuf. Eager to be on the king\u2019s council, Catherine quickly learns that her political aspirations matter far less than her ability to produce an heir. Surrounded by scheming courtiers, a powerful royal mistress and a male-dominant court obsessed with legacy and control, Catherine feels trapped inside this patriarchal world. That is, until she meets Pete, a wildman kept in the dungeon as one of the king\u2019s caged oddities, who awakens her wild side.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I first read this play, it was like my body was filled with bees; I felt inspired, furious and delighted,\u201d said Jamie King, director of the local co-production with Alberta Theatre Projects. \u201cThe play looks at power, at fertility, at legacy, all unflinching and full of humour. It\u2019s inspiring to find new plays that are able to speak about both our human history and contemporary issues with such insight and still make it feel alive and fun. This is an urgent play that needs to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tickets start at $37, with a pay-what-you-will option. Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatewaytheatre.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gatewaytheatre.com<\/a> or call 604-270-1812.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><i>\u2013 Courtesy Gateway Theatre<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Synthia Yusuf\u00a0 stars in Kat Sandler\u2019s Wildwoman, which runs March 26 to April 4 at Gateway Theatre, a co-production with Alberta Theatre Projects. (photo by David Cooper) \u201cWildwoman is a story that celebrates women who refuse to be silenced and reminds us that theatre can be funny, wild, fearless and alive. With such an amazing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[24698,24699,24696,24697],"class_list":["post-48560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-barbara-tomasic","tag-jamie-king","tag-kat-sandler","tag-wildwoman"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}