*Oh, Mary!* brings Cole Escola's darkly comic vision of Mary Todd Lincoln to the grand stage of Reynolds Hall. This 80-minute one-act play reimagines the First Lady as a deeply unhappy, closeted alcoholic in the tense weeks before her husband's assassination. Escola, who describes themselves as "an idiot," has crafted a surprisingly fresh take on historical drama by centering a figure typically relegated to the margins of Lincoln's story.

The play leans into absurdist humor while exploring themes of suppressed desire, marital misery, and the suffocating expectations placed on women in positions of power. Rather than a reverent historical portrait, this is Mary Todd Lincoln filtered through a queer, contemporary sensibility—complete with all the yearning and dysfunction that entails. The show has earned attention for its bold irreverence and willingness to treat history as raw material for comedy rather than something sacred.

Reynolds Hall's impressive 2,050-seat capacity and dramatic staging provide an appropriately grand setting for this intimate character study. The venue's full orchestra pit and sweeping balconies will frame this provocative reimagining of one of America's most scrutinized political marriages.