Jennie Hawkes has a key place in Canadian history as the first woman sentenced to hang in Alberta for murder. To wit: the killing of her philander husband’s lover and neighbour, Rosella Stoley. Jennie is the central (and controversial) figure in Tara Beagan’s play Thy Neighbour’s Wife, the latest offering of Theatre North West. The play runs from Feb. 3 to 21.
Naomi Wright of Vancouver plays Jennie in the local production. As a drama based on real life, however, it falls on the shoulders of talented Toronto actor Martin Happer to bring out flaws and facets of her husband, lawyer Wilfred Hawkes.