WIVES

I wish I could say I enjoyed Jaclyn Backhaus’s time-hopping feminist comedy Wives as much as I did the delightful performances and dazzing designs on display in its Southern California Premiere at East West Players.

Wives revisits a trio of historical figures (King Henry II of 16th-century France, 20th-century novelist Ernest Hemingway, and 19th/20th-century Indian Maharajah Sir Sawai Madho Singh II Bahadur) as seen through eyes of the women in their lives, thereby establishing the play’s central premise, that women deserve identities and stories of their own, especially those in relationships to men as powerful as these three.

To accomplish this objective (and to give her play a contemporary spin), Backhaus has these wives, ex-wives, and mistresses from decades and centuries ago interacting with each other in anachronistic, profanity-spiced Millennial/Gen Z speak along with deliberately absurd behavior that I found amusing at first, then considerably less so as the play progressed.

It doesn’t help that the real-life characters she’s focusing on may be only vaguely familiar (and in some cases not familiar at all) to a 2026 audience, which is one of several reasons I found emotionally disconnected from their lives, and by the time we got to the Maharajah and his entourage in Scene Three, I had pretty much lost interest despite the best efforts of an all-around fabulous cast.

As for the play’s fourth and final segment set at a contemporary university, its focus on the supernatural, witchcraft, and encounters with dead ancestors had me wishing for a spell to make it all end.

Admittedly, fantasy isn’t my thing, and if it’s yours, you may find Wives (or at least its last quarter) more up your alley, and the same will likely also be true if you don’t mind that instead of a plot that propels a play forward and stakes that have us invested in what happens to its characters, Wives is mostly made up of chatty banter.

That being said, I can’t totally pan the East West Players season opener if only because, much as Lin Manuel Miranda accomplished in Hamilton, playwright Backhaus asks us refreshingly to examine historically white characters from a POC’s POV, nor can I find fault with the performances and production design on display on the David Henry Hwang stage.

Anyone who caught Rachna Khatau’s radiant star turns in EWP’s A Nice Indian Boy and Washer/Dryer will rejoice in her shape-shifting return as Wife 1’s Queen Catherine, Hadley, Roop Rai, and grandmother Swarn, and the mononymous Arasha reveals bona fide star potential in her droll turns as Wife 3’s Diane, Martha, Maharani, contemporary Swarn.

Director Arpita Mukherjee’s decision to entrust Wife 2 (the only role not specifically written to be played by a South Asian performer) to a nonbinary actor is an inspired one, E.M. Davis making the comedic most of Scene One’s wacky Cook in addition to playing Mary, Mr. Patterson, and Witch with flair.

Finally, no one steals scenes with more joyful panache than Parvesh Cheena, whose turns as Henri, Big Ern, Maharaja, and grandfather Swarn are some of his most delightful.

Wives is also absolutely stunning to look at in Samantha Jones’s gorgeous costumes’ kaleidoscopic blend of richly saturated reds, saffron yellows, emerald greens, and royal blues, in scenic designer Yoon Bae’s extensive use of colorful translucent drapings, and in Pablo Santiago’s uber-vibrant lighting design.

Add to that Andrea Allmond’s incisive sound design and jaunty original music (including the Bollywoodesque “A Wives’ Word,” which she has cowritten with Pj ju), Rye Mandel’s panoply of period and contemporary props, and Yoko Haitz’s snazzy hair and makeup design and you’ve got a production design that would be any playwright’s dream.

Wives is presented in co-production with Hypokrit Live Arts. Pallavi Srinivasan, Vanathi Sundararaman, and Kapil Kanagasabai are understudies. Syana Varty is assistant director. Joey Guthman is assistant lighting designer and Mandel and Cassandra Tuan are assistant scenic designers. Jasmine Leung is stage manager and Lexie Secrist is assistant stage manager.

 I understand (or at least I think I understand) why Jaclyn Backhaus wrote Wives, and I also see how it fits into East West Players’ 61st season’s mission to “spotlight female, queer, and marginalized artists.” Still, best of intentions aside, this one just wasn’t for me.

East West Players, David Henry Hwang Theatre, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles. Through November 1. Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30. Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00. Sundays at 5:00. Also select Mondays at 7:30.
www.eastwestplayers.org

–Steven Stanley
October 11, 2026
Photos: Brian Hashimoto

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

 

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