Gender Play, or what you Will Review – A Necessary Reimagining

Will perches on a mantle next to a copy of the complete works of William Shakespeare — Will Wilhelm in Indy Shakes’ production of Gender Play, or what you Will. Photo by Zach Rosing

I had the good fortune to review Gender Play, or what you Will when it premiered at About Face Theatre in 2023. Now, this fabulous one-person show returns to the stage as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut series, and revisiting it in a new space and era is a delight.

Wide shot of the set of Gender Play with Will standing centerstage — Will Wilhelm in Indy Shakes’ production of Gender Play, or what you Will. Photo by Zach Rosing

In Gender Play, or what you Will, the party starts before the audience even walks through the door. Each attendee selects a tarot card from a table outside the theatre and is encouraged to dress up in a host of sparkly costume pieces from a rack just inside the space. When the show begins, the host, nonbinary actor Will Wilhelm, welcomes the audience to the party they’re throwing in honor of their new friendship with William Shakespeare, whose spirit they’ve recently summoned. What follows is a romp through the Bard’s iconic canon, with Wilhelm weaving stories of their own experiences as a trans person with the stories of some of Shakespeare’s most famous characters, from Juliet to Hamlet.

Will holds a candle and looks up reverently — Will Wilhelm in Indy Shakes’ production of Gender Play, or what you Will. Photo by Zach Rosing

Wilhelm ties Shakespeare’s work directly to tarot, even performing a live reading for an audience member onstage. They mention that both the cards’ and the plays’ longevity offer a framework for comparing the past to the present, noticing what has changed and what has stayed the same. At its core, Gender Play, or what you Will is the same show it was two years ago. Wilhem performs the same monologues, makes the same points about gender and canon, and guides the audience through the experience with the same irresistible mix of vulnerability and charm. But the world around this show could not have shifted more drastically.

Will poses with a ghost light and bedazzled skull — Will Wilhelmin a publicity image for Gender Play, or what you Will. Photo by Michael Stadler

In a world in which the most powerful people in the country are doing everything they can to strip trans people of their rights—and working to censor “gender ideology” in theatre specifically—a play that explores and celebrates queer identity in Western theatre’s most acclaimed playwright’s work is painfully relevant. Wilhelm does not hit the audience over the head with this point, instead letting the show’s significance speak for itself. Still, as I danced onstage with my friend during the show’s built-in dance break (“all shows,” I remarked to her, “should have a dance break”) and saw people of all ages, genders, races, and sexualities dancing too, I was reminded of the wisdom of AIDS activists who buried their friends in the morning, protested in the afternoon, and danced at night. While queer joy cannot be our only form of resistance to the stripping of our rights, it is an essential part of the equation.

Will holds a framed Elizabethan portrait out to the audience — Will Wilhelm in Indy Shakes’ production of Gender Play, or what you Will. Photo by Zach Rosing

Theatre has always been a place where the marginalized could make their voices heard. Wilhelm’s overarching point with this play, that if Shakespeare’s work is to continue to maintain relevance in the modern era, it must be allowed to change shape according to modern worldviews, applies to so much of both art and life in general today. How can we take the history that has been handed down to us, often by those with the most power and privilege, and make it our own? A good first step is to attend Gender Play, or what you Will, and spend an evening basking in much-needed joy.