The Fourth Walsh

Redtwist Theatre presents CONFEDERATES.

Sandra is a professor at a prestigious university. Someone has placed a disturbing photo on her door. Sara is a slave during the Civil War. Her brother has run away to fight for the Union Army. In different centuries, each woman grapples to find her voice, power and justice within hostile environments. Playwright Dominique Morisseau pens a provocative tale of discovery. In parallel timelines, Morisseau masterfully forces the women to confront racism, sexism, classism, and heterosexism in others and themselves. Whether its cruelly flagrant or unconscious bias, each woman must find her path through the hate to independence.   

Under the skillful direction of Aaron Reese Boseman, the acting is excellent.  A commanding Monique Marshaun (Sandra) begins the show with a blistering dissertation of her extensive African American studies and her current rage and disbelief that she is a victim of a hate crime. The next scene -and a century and half in the past, a fierce Shenise Danyel (Sara) bandages her brother, Makari Robinson-McNeese (Abner/Malik), from his war wounds while trying to persuade him to take her with him back to battle. Their exchange is both playful ribbing between siblings and a grim nod to the reality of their situation.

Morisseau delivers a strong message with tongue-and-cheek humor. And Boseman’s actors lend their talents to find the funny in the stereotypes. In the past, Madelyn Loehy amusingly leans hard into the part of a lusty slave owner. In the present, Loehy is a ‘woke’ graduate assistant apologetic for her ongoing verbal infractions. Also playing multiple roles, Toccarra Castleman works the political angles as a slave seeking to stay in the master’s favor and as a professor looking for ‘sisterhood’ solidarity in her tenure pursuit.

Although the entire ensemble is terrific, the leads are unforgettable in very different ways. Marshaun tries to navigate her life in poised, professionalism. Her encounters with Robinson-McNeese, Loehy and Castleman poke at her well-crafted facade and leave her spiraling in the aftermath. Danyel, on the other hand, is passionate and confident in her abilities. She creates her strategic plan to freedom and is determined to secure it. Danyel will not let anyone or anything deter her from her quest.These very different women across generations come together in powerful soliloquies in the finale.

Writing, directing, acting…. it’s exceptional! CONFEDERATES is a show that demands your attention AND it should get it.    

Running Time: One hundred and ten minutes with no intermission

At Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr

Written by Dominique Morisseau

Directed by Aaron Reese Boseman

Performances are:

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30pm

Sundays at 3:30pm

Thru March 8

For more information or tickets

Production photos by Aaron Reese Boseman

For more Chicago theatre information and reviews, please visit Theatre in Chicago