THE UNBECOMING OF MARGARET WOLF

Sex and drugs and…Shakespeare.

What begins as a marriage of convenience between two 1950s New York actors—one seeking to avoid scrutiny from the House Un-American Activities Committee—results in more drama than they foresaw. Narrator Margaret Wolf, a member of the Bard Players, is a refugee from a hardscrabble Kentucky upbringing and from the violence and mistreatment of her early days in theater in Richmond. When she marries Wesley Shoard, a handsome, charming, and gay fellow cast member, it’s an unconventional union but one marked by love and affection. Margaret’s personal demons—including no small amount of overidentification with the roles she plays—leave her in a fragile mental state and out of work for a period. She accompanies Wesley to an unusual engagement at an isolated replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in the New Mexico desert. The couple’s relationship is tested during a summer of rehearsals there by numerous forces, including troupe members attractive—and attracted—to both of them; Margaret’s growing dependence on the pharmaceuticals—licit and illicit—she relies on to face the day; and the unexplained and menacing presence of a network of mobsters affiliated with the theater’s operations. The troupe’s engagement comes to a tumultuous end, with high stakes for Margaret and Wesley and a cinematic resolution to the duo’s woes, incorporating several nods to the Bard along the way. With sensitivity to a range of queer relationships as well as to Margaret’s unraveling psyche, Arsén paints a vivid portrait of 1950s backstage culture. The demands and compulsions of theater life create a satisfying backdrop for historical fiction that works as a page-turner.

The play’s not the only thing here; Arsén’s players intrigue as well.