Review: Wild Horses by Penfold Theatre Company, Round Rock
by Hannah Neuhauser

What does freedom taste like? 

 

That bite of rebellion. The surge of your agency. Words vibrating from your mouth, not in anger, but in truth of your being. Does it taste like relief? Like mint, open and fresh as green grass? Or is it rich like chocolate, coating the tone in bitter sweetness?

 

Freedom is a taste difficult to name, but it's undeniably yours. And no one – no one – can take it away from you. Not even if they attempt to scrape it from your tongue. Taste lingers. If you savor the memory of that first bite, it's a moment that can last forever. 

 

Wild Horses will make you remember your first bite.

 

At a local bar an unnamed woman starts talking about the 1970's and a local radio contest to coin a name for folk trio America’s “Horse with No Name,” and she doesn’t stop. For 90 minutes - and it’s fantastic!

 

Allison Gregory’s Wild Horses is a hysterically heartbreaking recollection of a 13-year-old’s first taste of freedom, a wild late-night mission with her two best friends in the whole world, trying to save the horses from Morning Star Ranch. Gregory’s script perfectly captures the joys and pitfalls of being a teenager – body dysmorphia, dysfunctional family dynamics, sweet revenge over bullies, first loves, and self-discovery. This was the theatrical therapy session I didn’t know I needed and an experience I'll never forget.

 

Wild Horses made me remember my first bite of freedom. I grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina across from a local high school on a huge hill at the top of the neighborhood. After I finished my homework and chores, I'd take my red Razor scooter, walk the twenty minutes to the top of that hill, and then fly! I would press my knees together, lean back onto my ankles, hold onto the bar for dear life, and glide down that hill without a care in the world. Not a single car drove by to interrupt my speed. It was as if the universe knew I needed to feel held. In the chaos, and the fear and the anxiety of change, I found a moment where nothing mattered. I was free.

 

When Jennifer Coy Jennings monologued about riding that Morning Star horse, I remembered what my freedom tasted like. Juicy as a summer peach dripping off my chin. Sticky-sweet, and no matter how hard I tried to capture the fruit in my mouth, I could never hold onto it. But I could taste its essence, and I still hunger for it, every single day. 

 

Some of you lucky few probably saw Wild Horses when it premiered at The Vortex in 2017. That production in the tiny space of the Vortex pony shed brought Jennings awards from both the Austin Critics Table and the B. Iden Payne theatre awards council. Now everyone else in Austin has the opportunity to see her reprise the role at Penfold Theatre in Round Rock! 

 

 

Director Rudy Ramirez is no longer resident in Austin, but he returned to re-create and enlarge this staging. Instead of the cramped space at the Vortex where none of the dozen or so watchers was more than five feet from the actor, Ramirez and Jennings had a deep stage, an ample, fully realized set, three occupied onstage tables, a walk space in front of the stage, and an aisle up into the audience. That freedom of movement and the unpredictable monologue precisely and eloquently delivered by confessed extrovert Jennings create an explosive experience.

 

 

Six brave audience members will be offered seats at tables onstage. At times they'll be addressed directly by the actor. Perhaps they'll smile awkwardly at her as she bobs and hovers upon a bar chair, pretending it’s the rope ladder she's struggling to use to flee home after a beating. That lengthy sequence is particularly suspenseful and inventive, even though your rational mind tells you she's only a couple of feet above the floor. The rest of the audience enjoys a solid head-on view of the performance.

 

There is no bad seat– only a choice of how close you want to be. Caution, though – this show is 90 minutes with no intermission. Use the facilities wisely. 

 

At a Sunday afternoon talkback, playwright Gregory acknowledged that the story draws heavily on her own experiences growing up in northern California during the 1970s. Although mentioned characters are composites of persons she knew then, the work isn't strictly autobiographical. There are drugs, alcohol, waterbeds (and what can happen on them), as well as heavier themes of family issues, bodily discomfort, and loss. Gregory herself, now a mother of teenagers, noted that many social norms are different now. However, some of the dilemmas of young teens are inescapable and certain to be remembered lifelong,

 

Parents, it's your choice, but I recommend this production to audiences of age 15 and older. You're warned (perhaps tempted); don't let it deter you from this undeniably miraculous production. 

 

So, what are you waiting for? Buy your ticket and remember what it tastes like to run free!  

 

Wild Horses runs at Penfold Theatre in Round Rock through March 15, 2026. For tickets and more information, visit https://www.penfoldtheatre.org.

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Wild Horses
by Allison Gregory
Penfold Theatre Company

February 27 - March 15, 2026

Penfold Theatre,  2120 N. Mays St #290, Round Rock, TX 78664 in Rock Creek Plaza at I-35 and Texas Ave.

Free parking is available on site.

Round Rock Rides offers a convenient drop-off point at Rock Creek Plaza. To learn more about this low-cost ride-sharing program, visit here