Dominique Morisseau's Confederates at PlayMakers Rep Is
Compelling, Entertaining, Informative, and Often Quite Witty

PlayMakers Rep's March 5-23 production of Dominique Morisseau's Confederates stars Mengwe Wapimewah as Sara (photo by HuthPhoto)

Are you ready to meet some characters who could be described as "confederates"? Or, perhaps, you might be willing to join up and actually become one of their confederates? In any case, be prepared to be entertained while being enlightened by some serious storytelling that is infused with witty dialogue, an occasional sight gag, and wry humor.

PlayMakers Repertory Company promotes Dominique Morisseau's Confederates as a "groundbreaking satire," which "weaves together two stories [which] examine race, power, and resistance." Under Christopher Windom's direction, a strong cast tells these parallel stories in a way that is compelling, entertaining, informative, and often quite witty.

The central character of each of the two stories is a strong African American woman who courageously stands up to racist and sexist oppression with an admirable degree of dignity.

Sara is a slave whose story takes place on a Southern plantation. We are served a slice of her life during the final year of the Civil War.

Sandra is a present-day, well-respected, tenured political science professor at a prestigious university. Our slice of her life takes place in her office, 160 years later.

Part of the genius of Dominique Morisseau's script is in that we are served these slices of their lives one bite at a time, alternating back and forth between the two stories.

Part of the brilliance of Christopher Windom's direction is in the swiftness and seamlessness of these shifts across time and place.

Very much to the credit of scenic designer Lex Liang, lighting designer Latrice Lovett, stage manager Aspen Blake Jackson, and a dedicated running crew, every time and place setting disappears as another simultaneously emerges, and this switch happens so quickly that the audience barely has enough time to applaud one scene before the next begins. (FYI: On opening night, every scene deserved and received heartfelt applause.)

Kathryn Hunter-Williams stars as Sandra in PlayMakers Rep's March 5-23 presentation of Confederates (photo by HuthPhoto)

The Play:

The play opens with Sandra speaking to the university powers that be, telling them "I'd like to say that I am not averse to images of slavery. They do not embarrass or fatigue me." That said, she addresses a recent disturbing event: A photograph of an adult slave woman nursing a white baby had been photoshopped so that the woman now has Sandra's face, and a copy of that photograph had been posted on Sandra's office door. She concludes by demanding an investigation and that the perpetrator "be placed on academic probation immediately."

This scene is followed by another which takes place in Sara's one-room cabin in the mid-1860s. In addition to Sara, we meet her brother Abner, an escaped slave who has joined the Union army to fight for freedom and now has secretly returned to have Sara stitch up a wound that he has sustained. In this scene, we learn of Sara's yearning to fight for freedom, and we become aware of her wide variety of skills.

The scene then shifts to Sandra's office, where a conference with a student named Malik is in progress. She is discussing the grade that she had given to Malik's recent paper. Significantly, Abner and Malik are played by the same actor. Just as significantly, Malik's paper refers to our current socioeconomic system as a "modern-day plantation," thereby establishing a parallel, a link between the two stories.

As the scene shifts back to Sara's setting, we have just enough time to grasp the parallels between the Sara-Abner relationship and the Sandra-Malik connection.

The next pairing of scenes links an interaction between Sara and the daughter of her (white) master (Missy Sue) with an episode involving Sandra and her white student/assistant (Candice). Again, the roles of Missy Sue and Candice are played by the same actor.

The pattern of parallel scenes continues throughout, and we eventually meet one more character in each of the stories. LuAnne is a house slave in Sara's story, and Jade is an African American woman who is a fellow professor of Sandra's at the university. Each of these women has an agenda; again, both characters are played by the same actor.

Significantly, every ensuing pair of scenes presents a modern-day scene that is a "mirror" of the preceding scene from the past -- the same number of characters and the same dynamic. We are thereby invited to view the problems and limitations that Sandra is faced with as extensions of those faced by Sara, and we are reminded of William Faulkner's assertion in Requiem for a Nun: "The past is never dead. It's not even past. All of us labor in webs spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment, of desire and consequence, of history and eternity."

With this in mind, it should become easier to see the vestiges of slavery inherent in modern society and, perhaps, to intuit every 21st Century Sandra's need for allies or "confederates" in the current struggle against systemic racism and sexism.

Spoiler Alert: There is a final scene in which everything "comes together."

Tia James stars as LuAnne in PlayMakers Rep's March 5-23 production of Dominique Morisseau's Confederates (photo by HuthPhoto)

The Acting:

Five actors create eight distinct characters, and they do so with aplomb.

Kathryn Hunter-Williams, as Sandra, presents an urbane, dignified character who presumably has always taken everything in stride but has reached a point at which "enough" is, indeed, "enough." Hunter-Williams' performance gives subtle clues that signal her character's thoughts and feelings concerning what she learns about her "image" on campus.

Mengwe Wapimewah gives us a Sara who is feisty, animated, and determined -- a bundle of energy. Postures, body language, and distinct facial expressions punctuate Wapimewah's performance, seasoning our understanding of the character with humor.

Through Tia James, as LuAnne and Jade, we see situations that are counterpoint to those of the central characters. A fellow slave or a fellow professor is not necessarily an ally. James shows her characters' apprehensions and mistaken assumptions that are fueled by external societal forces.

Kristofer Wilson earns audience admiration and sympathy for both Abner and Malik. There is a rough patch in Malik's story that Wilson navigates quite well.

Elizabeth Dye plays the only white characters that we meet in the two stories. As Missy Sue and as Candice, she shows the clumsiness that sometimes plagues well-meaning would-be allies. Dye has found the inherent comedy in the roles, and she deftly avoids overplaying it.

Dominique Morisseau's Confederates stars Elizabeth Dye (left) as Missy Sue and Mengwe Wapimewah as Sara (photo by HuthPhoto)

The Tech:

Lex Liang's scenic design enables the creation of the two separate, distinct locations in time and place while avoiding any "bleed-over" between them. The choice to bring the 19th Century scenes up from under the stage emphasizes the idea that the past cannot stay (or even be) "buried." And bringing the 21st Century setting forward from behind the stage suggests that we are being transported forward in time.

Costume designer Pamela A. Bond hits every nail on the head. The contrasts between the various costumes accentuates the contrasts between the characters.

Lighting design by Latrice Lovett enhances every scene as well as every scene change. The occasional use of poignantly isolated spot lighting works nicely.

Sound designer/composer Elton Bradman adds original music in addition to the necessary sound effects.

Tia James stars as Jade in PlayMakers Rep's March 5-23 production of Dominique Morisseau's Confederates (photo by HuthPhoto)

Nice Touches:

• The choice to present Sandra's opening monologue on a bare stage.
• The slides projected on the upstage wall, both preshow and during the initial scene. Especially impressive is the photograph morphing from the original to the photoshopped version,
• The choice to have Kristofer Wilson change costumes onstage as he changes from Abner to Malik.
• The stark contrast between costuming for house slaves and field slaves.
• The "African-ness" of Jade's outfits.

Memorable Lines:

• "Everything you taught me -- I already forgot it."
• "I want freedom by my own doin'."
• "If you want to get real, let's get all-the-way real!"
• "Oh my God! I was completely racist!"

Dominique Morisseau's Confederates stars Kathryn Hunter-Williams as Sandra and Kristofer Wilson as Malik (photo by HuthPhoto)

From the Department of Picky-Picky:

We are pleased to announce that there are no "nits" to "pick."

Side Note Concerning the Title: Although the word "confederates" initially conjured up the Confederate States of America in my mind (and fittingly signaled the setting of Sara's story), I soon remembered that "confederates" is also the third-person form of the verb "to confederate" which Merriam-Webster tells us means "to unite in a confederacy" -- "a group ... joined together for a common purpose or by a common interest." Perhaps, Dominique Morisseau is signaling yet another level of meaning?

The Bottom Line:

The one-two punch of tense, serious action, laced with the comedic effects of witty dialogue, makes PlayMakers Repertory Company's briskly performed production of Dominique Morisseau's Confederates a must-see show.

Mengwe Wapimewah (left) and Kathryn Hunter-Williams star as Sara and Sandra (photo by HuthPhoto)

Dominique Morisseau's CONFEDERATES (In Person at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 12-16 and 19-23), directed by Christopher Windom and starring Kathryn Hunter-Williams as Sandra, Mengwe Wapimewah as Sara, Kristofer Wilson as Abner/Malik, Elizabeth Dye as Missy Sue/Candice, and Tia James as LuAnne/Jade (PlayMakers Repertory Company in the Paul Green Theatre in UNC-Chapel Hill's Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art). DIGITAL PROGRAM: https://playmakersrep.org/playbill-for-confederates/. TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2TP9jSUW0w. PRESENTER: https://playmakersrep.org/, https://www.facebook.com/playmakersrep, https://www.instagram.com/playmakersrep/, https://twitter.com/playmakersrep https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayMakers_Repertory_Company, and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO7crv41zzCYf9HxRDUEVdw. 2024-25 SEASON: https://playmakersrep.org/season/2024-2025/. PRC BLOG: https://playmakersrep.org/about-us/our-blog/. VENUE: https://playmakersrep.org/about-us/paul-green-theatre/ and https://museum.unc.edu/exhibits/show/names/paul-green-theatre. DIRECTIONS/PARKING: https://playmakersrep.org/visitor-info/directions-and-parking/. CONFEDERATES (2022 Oregon Shakespeare Festival and 2022 Off-Broadway drama): https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/95024/confederates, https://www.osfashland.org/en/productions/2022-plays/confederates.aspx, and http://www.iobdb.com/Production/6968. DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU (Detroit, MI-born actress, playwright, screenwriter, and 2018 MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow): https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/100903/dominique-morisseau, https://playmakersrep.org/artists/dominique-morisseau/, http://www.iobdb.com/CreditableEntity/42109, https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dominique-morisseau-520005, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5012077/, https://www.instagram.com/domorisseau/, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_Morisseau. NOTE 1: Seed Art Share of Raleigh will provide childcare during the 2 p.m. Sunday, March 9th, performance. Click here to buy a $25 Share-the-Show ticket for each child. NOTE 2: The 2 p.m. Sunday, March 16th, show will be an open-captioned performance -- with a "universal-access" live-caption unit, communicating dialog, stage directions, and sound effects -- followed by a post-show discussion. NOTE 3: Arts Access, Inc. of Raleigh will audio-describe and American-sign-language interpret the show's 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19th, performance. WARNING: PlayMakers Rep cautions, "Please note that this show contains mature language (including racial slurs), discussions about race, and depictions of slavery. This production displays photographic nudity. A prop gun is used on stage." RUN TIME: Run time is approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission. TICKETS: $20 and up ($10 and up youth), plus taxes and fees. Click here to buy tickets. INFORMATION: 919-962-7529 or prcboxoffice@unc.edu. PLEASE DONATE TO: PlayMakers Repertory Company. Melissa Rooney's Triangle Review Review Permalink. Susie Potter's Triangle Arts Review Review.

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