WILDER!
Etectera Theatre
★★★½
“delightfully absurd”
Set in a town ruled by its housewives through their manic local Garden Club, Wilder! tells the story of Gloria and Gregory Wilder, whose flawless façade hides a deadly secret.
This play started life five years ago as just a six-minute project by acting undergraduates studying in Paris, and over the years it has developed into an enjoyable comedy romp with more than a nod to the style of French Playwright Georges Faydeau with its own rapid pace and satirical portrait of bourgeois life.
It’s a thoughtful, sharply crafted production, from Amy Marsden’s sparse yet effective set design, which uses the emotionally charged colour red to striking effect, to the enjoyable fight scenes choreographed by Becca Watkin, including a classic slow motion sequence that earned a delighted reaction from the audience.
Creators Dany Van Brabant and Thomas Billiouw play Gloria and Gregory to good effect in this dark comedy, and they are ably supported by Jess Vince-Moin as the despot Phyllis Amberhide and Kgalalelo Thakadu as her side kick Sheryl-Anne. But it’s Evie Weldon who nearly steals the show with her Victoria Wood-esque performance as the put upon Martha, desperate to be friends with a disinterested Gloria. Her costume, which was essentially the adult equivalent of what happens when you let a toddler dress themselves, told us everything we needed to know from the moment she literally tripped onto the stage. The little scene of Martha eating miserably alone from an ice cream tub was comedy gold, or maybe just Neapolitan nonsense.
The project’s Paris origins remain evident in the production’s sound and visuals, but they add little to the piece, and even the ‘desperate housewives with a secret’ premise doesn’t really justify setting the story in the US or giving the characters American accents – or, in Phyllis’s case, posh English. After numerous rewrites, it feels as though some elements have been kept that might have been better let go. Overall, it could have been tidier and tighter.
The play has farcical qualities and is delightfully absurd, but sometimes the pace felt too rushed at times. Jillian Osborne’s solid direction at times missing the opportunity to punctuate the physical comedy with a beat.
The 1950s/60s music generally sets the atmosphere although occasionally, as with the use of the song ‘Hit The Road Jack’ to accompany the chase scene, it sometimes lacked subtilty.
Overall, this felt like a production that perhaps tried a little too hard. A more relaxed, smooth, confident version is in there somewhere.
Wilder! continues to evolve as it embarks on a short national tour. It’s clearly a labour of love, and one wishes the team every success as it grows.
WILDER!
Etectera Theatre as part of Camden Fringe
Reviewed on 5th August 2026
by Robert West
Photography by Isadora Baccon from Back On Films (from earlier production)
