Brooklyn production Our American Queen probes Kate Chase’s ambition and allegiances

Brooklyn-based company the american vicarious stages Our American Queen, which follows Kate Chase as she helps her father, Salmon P Chase, prepare to challenge Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 election. The reviewer says the play raises questions about female power, ambition and the psychological fallout of an emotionally distant father, but struggles to answer them fully.

Thomas Klingenstein’s script is criticised for often straying into expositional civil war detail; the review notes Klingenstein is a major Republican donor who believes the US is in a "cold civil war" with the "woke regime", though he keeps the play historical here. Directed by Christopher McElroen, the production is said to offer little badinage to lift dense dialogue and confines Kate’s political manoeuvrings largely to the house.

Neal Wilkinson’s set — a huge dining table laid out for the party — underlines the importance of appearances and who does not get a seat, while images in a gilded frame keep pace with the war. The review also highlights technical flourishes, including live-feed close-ups when an actor turns upstage, as distracting and limiting of face-to-face interaction.

The relationship between Kate and John Hay is described as the play’s most successful element, with Wallis Currie-Wood and Tom Victor singled out for their chemistry, and Darrell Brockis noted as suitably impassive as Salmon, though his accent is called patchy.

Key Topics

Culture, Kate Chase, Our American Queen, Salmon P Chase, John Hay, Thomas Klingenstein