About the Play:

Mother's Daughter is a full-length drama by Kate Hennig. Keep your enemies close, and your family closer. The Tudor throne is empty, and three would-be Queens contend for the crown. Sisters turn against each other in a deadly struggle that threatens to tear the country apart. With Kate Hennig's trademark style and wit, the story of 'Bloody Mary' becomes a thrilling contemporary exploration of women and power.

Mother's Daughter delves into the life of Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. Haunted by her mother's ghost, she is urged on toward a course that earned her the chilling nickname Bloody Mary. Upon the death of King Edward VI, the thirty-eight-year-old princess Mary wrests the throne from Edward's official heir. But Mary remains haunted by a vivid mental image of her late mother, urging her to adamantly question the motives of Mary's cousin Jane and her half-sister Bess, despite Mary's affection for them both. As the kingdom splits along Roman Catholic and Protestant lines, Mary walks a gauntlet of squabbling ethics and politics, and is forced to make some tough decisions. Should she execute her opponents before it's too late, the way her father did? Should she scramble to find a husband who can give her a rightful heir? And can she trust her mother, her sister, or even herself? The final play in Kate Hennig's powerful Queenmaker trilogy takes a look at Mary I as she learns to rule and to kill.

Mother's Daughter premiered in 2019 at the Studio Theatre and enjoyed a virtually sold-out run during the Stratford Festival.

Cast: 6 women, 1 man

What people say:

"It's thrilling to observe Hennig's writerly voice develop in real time through this series." — Toronto Star

"Hennig's genius lies in taking us on a historical journey with the added bliss of some sharp right – and left – turns of her own devising." — Capital Critics' Circle

"Hennig upends the usual narrative of patriarchal bloodlines by giving voice to some of the era's intrepid women." — NOW Magazine

About the Playwright:

Kate Hennig is a Canadian actor, writer and teacher. Born in England, and raised in Alberta, she is a diverse, multi-award-winning theatre artist, with over thirty years of professional experience as a performer, including seasons on Broadway, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and with both the Shaw and Stratford Festivals.