Cate Giordano, The Final Wife

Performances, December 12, 13, 14, 2025
Friday, December 12, doors at 7.30, performance at 8pm
Saturday, December 13, doors at 8.30, performance at 9pm
Sunday, December 14, doors at 7.30, performance at 8pm

r.s.v.p. [email protected]

Cate Giordano, The Final Wife
Exhibition on view December 17, 2025 — January 11, 2026

Cate Giordano, early movies
online at participantafterdark.art
December 7 — January 30, 2026

Cate Giordano, The Final Wife is a play and film loosely based on the 1993 Waco Siege of
a compound belonging to the Branch Davidians, a religious sect in Waco, Texas. The
work presents fictionalized representations of Branch Davidians leader David Koresh
that include negotiations with the FBI, passages from the Book of Revelation and the
Old Testament, and fantasies between Koresh and then U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.

In The Final Wife, Koresh believes he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. After his
behavior catches the attention of federal law enforcement, he finds himself, his followers, and his numerous wives and children embattled in an armed stand-off with the FBI. Koresh engages in cat-and-mouse negotiations with an FBI agent named Steve, prolonging the stand-off for weeks. Convinced that his final wife must be Attorney General Janet Reno, Koresh begins to meet with her in dreams and the two develop a dialogue about the overlapping nature of government and faith. In accordance with Koresh's plan, they fall in love, which sets off the apocalypse.

Giordano plays the parts of David Koresh, the FBI agent, and a newscaster. Julianna Schley performs as Janet Reno and a news correspondent.

The Final Wife uses a fictionalized version of a tragic event to explore ideas of control,
coercion, and fanaticism. While Koresh finds Biblical justification for his delusions,
Reno fervently believes in the righteousness of government in any situation. The Final
Wife is an investigation of two hierarchical structures of power and what happens when
ideologies collide.

From December 17, 2025 — January 11, 2026, the movie version of The Final Wife, 2024,
will show continuously, along with fifty oil paintings based on stills from the movie.

The play and the film are an expansion on a multimedia installation shown in October 2021 at Galerie Christophe Gaillard in Paris, France.

Performance credits:
Made by Cate Giordano
Produced by Lia Gangitano and Participant Inc.
Live performers: Julianna Schley, Cate Giordano, Eddie Grocerie
Soundtrack: Jordi Wheeler
Technical Director: Harry Kleeman
Production Team: John Brattin, Ryan Harman, Baseera Khan, Fred Maass, Eve Sussman
Documentation: Itziar Barrio, Isaiah Davis, Bryce Hackford
Camera: Chris Wawrinofsky, Eve Sussman, Jesse Karch, Simone Siegel,
Clayton Skidmore, Diana Ayala
Fire: Ed Giordano
Mold making: Blake Hiltunen

Video Featuring:
Asia Meade Smith, Rachel Leal, J. Starr, B. Lane, A. McNaughton, Oliver Jones, A. Jones,
I. Jones, Jane Cramer, Amy Ruhl, Leah Retherford, Neil Meredith, Roger Gaitan, Fred Maass, Clayton Skidmore, Eddie Grocerie

Concurrently, from December 7, 2025 – January 30, 2026, Participant After Dark presents
Cate Giordano, early movies:

Hunter in the Woods, 2007, 7:56, hi-8 video
Hunter Dodge escapes his unhappy relationship with Joy by retreating to the forest and
building himself a wife out of scrap wood. In his constructed paradise, Hunter is content
with his silent, self-made partner, Susannah. However, Joy finds him and drags him
kicking and screaming back into reality. Hunter in the Woods was the first film featuring Julianna Schley, who has acted in most of Giordano’s projects.

Species, 2008, 14:04, miniDV and 16mm film
Trapped in the belly of a Trojan Lion, Jonah and Dot are falling out of love. Jonah, a writer, fights to remain true to his artistic vision, despite mounting pressure from Dot to earn money. Dot runs off with a shape-shifting insurance salesman named Hugh, played by seven actors, leaving Jonah to incubate inside his creation. Jonah and Dot are both played by Giordano.

Site design by After Dark Director, Itziar Barrio.