Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre-Media Centre
4-red-stars-102w.png “All hail THE LAST WIFE” – Now Magazine 

With sharp dialogue and compelling characters, this historical fight for power explores humanity through a contemporary lens. A funny and fascinating dissection of patriarchy, sexual politics and women’s rights.

Kate Parr agrees to marry King Henry VIII, but on her own terms. As she asserts her agency and fights for equal rights for Henry’s daughters, the volatile King struggles for control. With a modern voice and fresh perspective, Kate Hennig reimagines the intricate lives of these iconic historical figures.


Click on the image to download the digital program:

Ovation5Cover.jpg

Warnings: 
Mature > strong language, depictions of violence, sexual themes and suggestive content. Details under 'Your Visit'.

 

Running time: 
Approx. 2 hrs, 30 mins (incl. intermission)


Opening Night sponsor:



 

Header photo: Amelia Sargisson, Blake Beachell (being held) & Sébastien Heins in The Last Wife. Set Designer: Brian Perchaluk, Costume Designer: Joseph Abetria, Lighting Designer: Hugh Conacher. Photo by Dylan Hewlett.

Cast & Crew

Production
Kate Hennig photo
Kate Hennig

Playwright

Playwright Kate Hennig
Kate Hennig photo

Kate Hennig

Born in England, and raised in Alberta, Kate is a multi-award-winning theatre artist, with over 40 years of professional experience as a performer, director, playwright and educator. Kate’s Queenmaker plays, The Last Wife, The Virgin Trial and Mother’s Daughter, are a contemporary feminist re-vision of the Tudor queens Katherine Parr, Mary I and Elizabeth I. Kate’s other playwriting includes her adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac (2019/21) and Wilde Tales, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s stories for children (2017), both commissioned and premiered by the Shaw Festival. The Last Wife was short-listed for the Carol Bolt Award (2015). The Virgin Trial won the Carol Bolt Award and was short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama-English (2017). Kate’s current writing projects include: Sex in the ‘80s, a provocative comedy about how sexual ethics change with time; The Ducking Chair, an interactive solo show where the audience decides whether to save or drown a witch; The Woman in White, an adaptation of the sensational 19th century novel by Wilkie Collins; and The Salon, an imagined gathering of the mistresses of Charles the Second on the evening of his death. Kate lives and writes in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. katehennig.com

Director Cherissa Richards
Cherissa Richards photo

Cherissa Richards

ROYAL MTC Director: Trouble in Mind. Assistant Director: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Actor: The Mountaintop, Sense and Sensibility, Di and Viv and Rose, A Christmas Carol, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (with Citadel), Mrs. Warren’s Profession.

OTHER THEATRE Director: Primary Trust (Grand/Crow’s); The Lightning Thief, The Power of Harriet T (MTYP); Serving Elizabeth, VOICE (PTE); Stag and Doe (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Shedding a Skin (Nightwood/Buddies in Bad Times); Controlled Damage (Neptune/NAC); Rapunzel: A Holiday Panto (Capitol Theatre); Sleuth (Vertigo); Middletown (Dalhousie University); Julius Caesar (Bard on the Beach); Red Velvet – Globe & Mail Critic’s Pick (Crow’s); Backstage at Carnegie Hall (Centaur); Meet Me at Dawn (TBTR); Subjection of Kezia, Poof (Shaw). Associate/Assistant Director: Fall on Your Knees (CS/Neptune/NAC/Grand).

TRAINING M.F.A. Acting – York University, B.A.H. Theatre – University of Winnipeg, Independent Study: Directing – NTS, Neil Munroe Directing Internship – Shaw Festival.

ET CETERA Crow’s Theatre RBC Rising Star Emerging Director Prize 2021 and 2023 Dora Award winner for Outstanding Direction. cherissarichards.com

Brian Perchaluk photo
Brian Perchaluk

Set Designer

Set Designer Brian Perchaluk
Brian Perchaluk photo

Brian Perchaluk

ROYAL MTC Recent and favourites: Murder on the Orient Express, Waitress, The Recipe (with TPM), The Comeback, The Mountaintop, Clue (with Grand), Burning Mom, The Three Musketeers, The Color Purple (with Citadel), The Cottage, Sarah Ballenden, Black Coffee, Billy Elliot the Musical, Harvey, August: Osage County, Picasso at the Lapin Agile (with NAC), M. Butterfly (with NAC).

OTHER THEATRE Brian’s work has been featured at theatres across the country, including two seasons each at the Shaw and Stratford festivals. Selected recent credits include: La Cantatrice chauve et La Leçon (Théâtre Cercle Molière); The Hockey Sweater and The Little Mermaid (Rainbow); Liars at a Funeral (PTE).

TRAINING Graduate of U of W and NTS.

ET CETERA Recipient of Gemini, Jessie Richardson, Prix Rideau and Evie Awards.

Joseph Abetria photo
Joseph Abetria

Costume Designer

Costume Designer Joseph Abetria
Joseph Abetria photo

Joseph Abetria

ROYAL MTC (selected) Costume Designer: Murder on the Orient Express, Life of Pi (with Citadel), Indecent, Little Women, The Play That Goes Wrong (with Citadel/TC), The Comeback, The Piano Teacher, Calpurnia (with NAC/Black Theatre Workshop).

OTHER THEATRE (selected) Costume Designer: Prophecy, Mary’s Wedding, Iceland (TPM); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Grand Ghost (Grand); Snow White, Spelling 2-5-5 (MTYP); Volare, Space Girl, Voice (PTE); Plé (Plé Collective presented by MTYP); Women of the Fur Trade (Vault Projects).

TRAINING University of Winnipeg.

Hugh Conacher photo
Hugh Conacher

Lighting Designer

Lighting Designer Hugh Conacher
Hugh Conacher photo

Hugh Conacher

ROYAL MTC (selected) Lighting & Video Designer: Elf – The Musical, The Lehman Trilogy, The Mountaintop, Vietgone, Venus in Fur. Video Designer: Network (with Citadel). Lighting Designer: Murder on the Orient Express, King James, Indecent, Little Women, The Recipe (with TPM), among men (with TPM), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (with Segal), The Secret to Good Tea, Into the Woods, New, Orlando, Women of the Fur Trade, Fun Home, The Color Purple (with Citadel), Kill Me Now (with NAC), Seminar (with Mirvish), Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing and many other productions since the ‘80s.

OTHER THEATRE Hugh collaborates with choreographers, visual artists and dance and theatre companies worldwide.

ET CETERA Hugh enjoys working beyond the constraints of traditional lighting design using various forms of interactive media, video and photography. His photographic work resides in private collections and has been published worldwide. Hugh is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and L’Association des professionnels des arts de la scène du Québec. www.pellucid.me.

Torquil Campbell photo
Torquil Campbell

Sound Designer & Composer

Sound Designer & Composer Torquil Campbell
Torquil Campbell photo

Torquil Campbell

ROYAL MTC First engagement.

OTHER THEATRE As an actor: Henry V and Pericles (Public Theatre, New York); A Fair Country (Lincoln Centre, New York); Shopping and Fucking (New York Theatre Workshop); two seasons at Stratford Festival; dozens of plays all over North America including a country wide tour of my one man show True Crime, which ran at Prairie Theatre Exchange in 2018. As a designer: three Jessie awards for sound design in Vancouver for Angels in America Parts 1 and 2, and Hamlet; design for Vertigo Theatre in Calgary, Centaur Theatre in Montréal, and United Players, Bard on the Beach, Arts Club Theatre and Western Gold Theatre in Vancouver. 

FILM/TV Soundtracks for films, winner of Canadian Screen Award 2025 for best original song in a feature.

TRAINING Circle in the Square Theatre (New York).

ET CETERA Member of the band Stars with over 600,000 albums sold worldwide and two Juno nominations and a gold record. This machine kills fascists.

Aria Evans photo
Aria Evans

Intimacy Director

Intimacy Director Aria Evans
Aria Evans photo

Aria Evans

ROYAL MTC Little Women, The Recipe (with TPM). 

OTHER THEATRE Choreographer & Intimacy Director: The Effect (Coal Mine); Every Little Nookie (Stratford). Intimacy Director: Richard II (Stratford). Assistant Director & Intimacy Director: Queen Goneril (Soulpepper).

FILM/TV Intimacy Coordinator: When Stars Align (Lifetime); We Three Queens (OutTV); Really Happy Someday (Spindle Films); Sworn Justice: Taken Before Christmas (Black Entertainment Television).

TEACHING Assistant Professor in the Theatre and Film department at the University of Winnipeg.

Jacquie Loewen photo
Jacquie Loewen

Fight Director

Fight Director Jacquie Loewen
Jacquie Loewen photo

Jacquie Loewen

ROYAL MTC Fight Director (selected): Holland (with TPM), Murder on the Orient Express, Indecent, Waitress, The Recipe (with TPM), The Mountaintop, Clue (with Grand), Yaga, Into the Woods, The Rez Sisters, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (with Arts Club/Citadel), Vietgone (with fu-GEN/Hope and Hell), Hand to God, Private Lives, Gone With the Wind, August: Osage County, Romeo and Juliet, The Seafarer. Actor: The Three Musketeers, Alice Through the Looking-Glass, Top Girls.

OTHER THEATRE Fight Director (selected): Macbeth (Bard on the Beach); Indigenous Playwrights New Works Workshop (PTC – Vancouver); Beauty and the Beast (Rainbow); The Flood Thereafter (CS); Don Giovanni (Manitoba Opera); Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew (SIR); Prairie Nurse (PTE).

TEACHING U of Winnipeg, U of Manitoba, Trinity Western, Simon Fraser University, Kansas State University.

ET CETERA Jacqueline was a founding member of the Canadian Comedy Award-nominated sketch group Hot Thespian Action.

Alissa Watson photo
Alissa Watson

Assistant Director

Assistant Director Alissa Watson
Alissa Watson photo

Alissa Watson

ROYAL MTC Actor: Sense and Sensibility, Harvey.

OTHER THEATRE Director: Munsch Upon a Time, The Paper Bag Princess (PTE); Rocking Horse Winner, The Mansplaining Division (Manitoba Underground Opera); None of This is Happening (TPM); The Moors, Witch, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl (University of Alberta). Actor: Narrow Bridge (WJT); Small Things, Mission Munschpossible, Magical Mystery Munsch (PTE); Torn Through Time, Dib and Dob and the Journey Home, Night Light (MTYP).

TRAINING MFA in Directing from the University of Alberta; Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance; Guildhall School of Music and Drama (England); Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education from Brandon University.

ET CETERA It is a great privilege to make art; endless gratitude to Cherissa and Royal MTC for the opportunity.

Montana Lehmann photo
Montana Lehmann

Apprentice Director

Apprentice Director Montana Lehmann
Montana Lehmann photo

Montana Lehmann

ROYAL MTC Actor: A Christmas Story.

OTHER THEATRE End of the Line (Walk&Talk Theatre Co.); True Colors (WJT/StratFest@Home); Am I Not King? (zone41); A Little Night Music (Dry Cold).

TV Burden of Truth (CBC).

TRAINING University of Winnipeg (2016); Studio 58 (2022).

ET CETERA Montana would like to thank her beloved roommates for their hours of living room audition prep and encouragement to take this leap.

Raphael Estillore photo
Raphael Estillore

Apprentice Costume Designer

Apprentice Costume Designer Raphael Estillore
Raphael Estillore photo

Raphael Estillore

ROYAL MTC First engagement. 2025/26 National Mentorship Program.

OTHER THEATRE Set Designer for The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical for Junior Musical Theatre Company at the Asper Centre for Theatre and Film. Student Costume Designer for FORWARD during 2024/25 academic year at the University of Winnipeg Asper Centre for Theatre and Film.

TRAINING University of Winnipeg: Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Film.

ET CETERA Raphael has been awarded the 2024-25 University of Winnipeg Gold Medal Achievement in a Major (3-Year) Theatre and Film and University of Winnipeg Dean’s Honour List: Student of Highest Distinction (2021 – 2024).

Karyn Kumhyr photo
Karyn Kumhyr

Stage Manager

Stage Manager Karyn Kumhyr
Karyn Kumhyr photo

Karyn Kumhyr

ROYAL MTC Selected: Little Women, The Secret to Good Tea, The Three Musketeers, The Rez Sisters, The Cottage, Heisenberg, A Christmas Carol, Sarah Ballenden, Chimerica (with CS), A Christmas Story, Next to Normal, The Shunning, Steel Magnolias, It’s a Wonderful Life, Bleeding Hearts, Pride and Prejudice, Fiddler on the Roof, Our Town, The Tempest. 

OTHER THEATRE Selected: Frozen (Disney); Romeo & Juliet (RWB); End of the Line (TPM/Walk & Talk); Ma-Buhay!, Rent, Beauty and the Beast (Rainbow); The Devil’s Disciple, Desire Under the Elms (Shaw); Feast, The War Being Waged, The Third Colour (PTE); Pandora (SIR/PTE); Pippin (ViC/WST); Betty’s Song (Charlottetown Festival); Spelling Bee (Grand); James and the Giant Peach (MTYP); The Rick Hansen Story (MTYP/2010 Olympics/Citadel); Molière, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (ATP).

FILM/TV Bring It On: Cheer or Die (Universal); Winnipeg Comedy Fest (Frantic Films); Burden of Truth (CBC TV series). 

Jazz Marcelino photo
Jazz Marcelino

Assistant Stage Manager

Assistant Stage Manager Jazz Marcelino
Jazz Marcelino photo

Jazz Marcelino

ROYAL MTC Assistant Stage Manager: King James. Apprentice Stage Manager: among men (with TPM), Clue (with Grand), Burning Mom, Assassinating Thomson (tour).

OTHER THEATRE (selected): The Lightning Thief (MTYP); Liars at a Funeral (PTE); Blue Beads and Blueberries (MTYP Tour); Tuesdays with Morrie (WJT); Ma-Buhay! A New Musical (Rainbow); Othello (Beau/Raven/Echo); Agency (Sarasvàti); Stephen Hopwood Is Not Dead (Pengwin Production); True Blue (Cagey Productions). Stage Management Apprenticeships (selected): RENT, The Hockey Sweater: A Musical (Rainbow); La Cenerentola (MB Opera).

FILM Second Wardrobe Assistant: Alter Boys (Farpoint Films).

TRAINING Graduate of University of Winnipeg – Bachelor of Arts in Production and Stage Management in Theatre and Film Production.

ET CETERA Hope you enjoy the show! 🙂 

Keira Jordan photo
Keira Jordan

Apprentice Stage Manager

Apprentice Stage Manager Keira Jordan
Keira Jordan photo

Keira Jordan

ROYAL MTC First engagement.

OTHER THEATRE Stage Manager: The Weight of Ants, White Girls in Moccasins (U of W); Chicago (All-Dentist Musical); CliqYou, Between Gigs (Winnipeg Fringe). Assistant Stage Manager: The Secret in the Wings (U of W); Bloodsuckers! The Musical (Winnipeg Fringe). Production Assistant: Rock of Ages, Frozen (Rainbow). Assistant Lighting Designer: Ponderosa Pine (PTE); A Bright Room Called Day (U of W).

FILM/TV BG Casting Assistant: Bad Romance, The Holiday Shift. Covid Testing Coordinator: Little Bird, Time Cut.

TRAINING BA (Hons) in Stage Management from the University of Winnipeg.

ET CETERA Love to my family and friends for all their encouragement and support! 

Bailey Chin photo
Bailey Chin

Child Supervisor

Child Supervisor Bailey Chin
Bailey Chin photo

Bailey Chin

Emma Welham photo
Emma Welham

Research Dramaturg

Research Dramaturg Emma Welham
Emma Welham photo

Emma Welham

Cast
Eddie Blake Beachell
Blake Beachell photo

Blake Beachell

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

OTHER THEATRE Rosser and Grosse Isle School Christmas concerts; member of Mark Morriseau and the Prairie Fiddlers; Sven in the musical Frozen (Prairie Vision Arts Council and Antler River Recreation Commission); Rosser United Church Christmas Eve Productions.

FILM Short film Wheels of Rage by Sam Vint (Sick + Twisted Theatre).

ET CETERA Blake is very excited to be in his first show and would like to thank his family, friends and teachers along the way for the love and support.

Thom Sébastien Heins
Sébastien Heins photo

Sébastien Heins

ROYAL MTC Bang Bang (with Belfry).

OTHER THEATRE Slave Play, Topdog/Underdog (CS); Measure for Measure (Crow’s); The 39 Steps (Guild); No Save Points (Outside the March); The Tempest, The School for Scandal (Stratford); Brotherhood: The Hip Hopera (b Current); The Lion King (Mirvish).

FILM/TV Law & Order Toronto; Ghosts of Christmas Past (Lifetime); Stratford production of The Tempest, seen on CTV.

TRAINING NTS, Steppenwolf.

ET CETERA Sébastien created and performs No Save Points, a one-man show blending video games and memoir, winner of Columbia University’s Digital Dozen Award and now being developed into a video game. He’s thrilled to join the team of The Last Wife, and he dedicates this production to the memory of Danny Klass. 

Mary Julie Lumsden
Julie Lumsden photo

Julie Lumsden

ROYAL MTC Sarah Ballenden, Sense and Sensibility.

OTHER THEATRE Anne of Green Gables, The Art of War, Sense and Sensibility, Cymbeline, The Diviners (Stratford); Gypsy, On the Razzle, Gaslight, Everybody, Brigadoon, Flush, The Horse and His Boy, A Christmas Carol (Shaw); Amahl and the Night Visitors (Edmonton Opera); Li Keur (Manitoba Opera); Peter Pan: The Panto (Neptune); Charlie Brown, James and the Giant Peach (MTYP).

TRAINING Bachelor of Music in Classical Voice Performance from the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba.

ET CETERA Julie is thrilled to be back on the Royal MTC stage for the first time since 2018!

Kate Amelia Sargisson
Amelia Sargisson photo

Amelia Sargisson

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

OTHER THEATRE Casey and Diana (WCT); Stag & Doe (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Paradise Lost, Hamlet 911, Othello, The Front Page, The Comedy of Errors (Stratford); The Wolves (META Recipient), If We Were Birds (META nomination), Down From Heaven (Cartes Premières Best Actress) (Imago); Hamlet, Twelfth Night, King Lear (CS); La Bête, Amadeus (TiFT); The Importance of Being Earnest (Citadel); Red Velvet (Dora nomination), The Watershed, Seeds (Crow’s); All I Want for Christmas, Paradise Lost (META nomination), The 39 Steps (META nomination) (Centaur).

VIDEO GAMES/TV Nora (VO and MOCAP) in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (New York Game Awards nomination for Best Acting in a Game) (Don’t Nod); The Boys, Murdoch Mysteries, See.

TEACHING Mentoring Artist at NTS.

ET CETERA Narration and direction of multiple audiobooks for Penguin Random House Canada and ECW Press. For the survivors.

Bess Katie Welham
Katie Welham photo

Katie Welham

ROYAL MTC Billy Elliot the Musical. 2025/26 National Mentorship Program.

OTHER THEATRE A Chorus Line, Guys and Dolls (WSO/Rainbow); The Secret in the Wings, Stupid Fucking Bird, Oh the Humanity (U of W); A Taste of Blood in the Mouth, CliqYou, Women (Winnipeg Fringe Festival).

TRAINING Graduate of the University of Winnipeg with a Bachelor of Arts Honours; Intensive Training Program (RWB).

ET CETERA Thank you to my friends and family for their endless love and support. I would like to dedicate this performance to my grandmothers Huguette and Helen. Thank you for teaching me great strength.

Cory Wojcik photo
Cory Wojcik

Henry

Henry Cory Wojcik
Cory Wojcik photo

Cory Wojcik

ROYAL MTC Actor/Playwright: Mix Tapes From My Mom (Regional Tour/Warehouse). Actor: The Comeback, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (with Segal), The Three Musketeers, All is Bright, The Cottage, A Doll’s House, Once (with Grand), Kill Me Now (with NAC), Black Coffee, Hand to God, Billy Elliot the Musical, Late Company, Harvey, Miracle on South Division Street, August: Osage County. Assistant Director: Morning After Grace.

OTHER THEATRE Actor: Much Ado About Nothing (SIR); The Wedding Party, Butcher (PTE); Strike! The Musical, Beauty and the Beast, The Producers (Rainbow); The Jungle Book, Jabber, The Big League (MTYP); Another Way Home (WJT); A Man of No Importance (Dry Cold). 

FILM/TV Actor: Acting Good, Champions, Dark Harvest, Breakthrough, A Dog’s Purpose.

TRAINING U of W Department of Theatre and Film; U of M Faculty of Education, B.Ed.

ET CETERA This summer Cory returns to the Winnipeg Fringe Festival to present a Métis adaptation of Ryan Gladstone’s The 7 Lives of Louis Riel. Hope to see you there! 

Loading ticket information
Production ID: 35855
Start Date: 3/25/2026 10:09:00 AM
End Date: 4/18/2026 10:09:15 AM
Title: The Last Wife
Playwright: By Kate Hennig
Billing: Directed by Cherissa Richards
Warnings: Mature > strong language, depictions of violence, sexual themes and suggestive content. Details under 'Your Visit'.
Synopsis: 4-red-stars-102w.png “All hail THE LAST WIFE” – Now Magazine 

With sharp dialogue and compelling characters, this historical fight for power explores humanity through a contemporary lens. A funny and fascinating dissection of patriarchy, sexual politics and women’s rights.

Kate Parr agrees to marry King Henry VIII, but on her own terms. As she asserts her agency and fights for equal rights for Henry’s daughters, the volatile King struggles for control. With a modern voice and fresh perspective, Kate Hennig reimagines the intricate lives of these iconic historical figures.


Click on the image to download the digital program:

Ovation5Cover.jpg

Facility: John Hirsch Mainstage
Alternate URL: https://royalmtc.ca/Current-Plays/The-Last-Wife.aspx
Play Image:
Word Mark: b877cc99-0947-41f2-8b70-60ded968444d
Rotator Image: 90d147e0-bbbc-4c7c-93ef-20dd04ab1a8a
Display Rotator From: 2/27/2026 10:26:12 AM
Display Rotator To: 4/18/2026 11:59:00 PM
 

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