Image provided by the company
A distinctive stylistic ploy of Adam Bailey’s latest kaleidoscopic exposé portrait of a historical figure is that it keeps hiccuping on the start of its story. He opens with a romantic, wild wild west rescue on horseback and a building left in flames. It’s all very John Ford, very CinemaScope. Regardless of the truth of this thrilling and romantic vignette, it’s part of Victoria Woodhull’s mythos. But is it the proper place to begin?
It seems that everyone who knew the woman marks a different place on her timeline, a distinctive context from which her story should begin. In All Hail Mrs. Satan, presented by Still Your Friend Productions, Bailey gives a slew of supporting players space to rant and rave, revealing their take on her deal—this first woman to run for President of the United States of America.
Underneath a causally elegant suit jacket, Bailey sports a Black Phillip T-shirt—a sly thematic tip-off for those who have seen The Witch. Before she was Mrs. Satan, Woodhull was the Witch of Wall Street. The first female broker, she somehow became the richest woman in America as many of her male compatriots succumbed to financial ruin. This was one of many accomplishments that attracted the attention of radical feminist leaders like Susan B. Anthony.
So many iconic people figure into this story, swirling around the charismatic Woodhull with her fiery ambition and progressive ideas—religious leaders, titans of industry and entangled relations. Names like Tilton, Beecher and Vanderbilt populate her sphere. Though he wisely includes a list of these figures in the show program, it was still tricky for me to track the details of who was doing what and why.
Bailey whips out a slew of vocal affectations and lighting schemes to depict each of these expository vessels while his trademark exuberance and manic delivery keep the momentum up. Not being familiar with the specific history here, many situations were too slippery for me to properly grasp. Woodhull herself is only glimpsed through anecdotes and narration as scandals are stirred up, tempers flare and pearls are clutched.
There are two distinctly resonant moments that make her a startling, intimate presence. During one of her speeches, Bailey portrays an infatuated Isabella Beecher gripping a curtain with wide-eyed admiration as she listens from the wings. And when he finally embodies Woodhull herself, it is to remind us of the original, true meaning of the Icarus myth in a lovely bit of poetic reclamation.
Woodhull is a fascinating figure and it is genuinely astonishing just how widely forgotten she is. It isn’t just her Wall Street prowess and Presidential candidacy that is note-worthy. She was all up in the spiritualist movement, touted free love, got herself arrested and was generally pretty badass.
Bailey’s tribute also touches on some rather compelling aspects of the sex trade and women’s beneficial influence on their local communities in the early days of the American experiment. Though this piece is well-researched and comprehensive, I felt my eyes glazing over whenever I got lost in the propulsive info-dump.
All Hail Mrs. Satan
running October 8 to 13, 2024
Red Sandcastle Theatre (922 Queen St. E)
running time: 60 minutes
Image of Adam Bailey provided by the company