Madelyn Loehr (Candice), Monique Marshaun (Sandra) and Makari Tobinson-McNeese (Malik) Photo by A.R. Boseman
Highly Recommend
Be prepared – – I am getting ready to gush because this production of Confederates by playwright Dominique Morrisseau and directed by Aaron Reese-Boseman at Redtwist Theater is the level of writing and performance I hope to see when attending a play.
This intimate drama delivers a message of unconscious bias and institutional slavery put into motion generations ago but still very much alive and grappled with today on both sides of the racial divide.
Sandra (Monique Marshaun) a female African American social science professor at a predominantly white university has been racially targeted through the appearence of an image of her face “photoshopped” on to the body of an enslaved wet nurse with a white baby at her breast.
The message seems to suggest that Sandra shows favoritism toward white students over her black students and is doing so perhaps as a way to maintain her own status as the most senior woman of color in her department.
The image has caused great distress to Sandra resulting in frank and sometimes too honest discussions between her, her students and her colleagues as she endeavors to discover the person or persons behind the perceived slander.
Alternately, the action shifts to the life of enslaved woman Sara (Shenise Danyel) whose brother Abner (Makari Robinson-McNeese) has escaped the plantation toward the end of the American Civil War, and taken up arms with the Union Army.
Sara also wants her freedom but is hesitant to take action. In the meantime, her master’s daughter, Missy Sue, claims to have been enlightened through visits to the North where she has come in contact with abolitionists.
Madelyn Loehr (Candice), Monique Marshaun (Sandra) and Makari Tobinson-McNeese (Malik)
She claims to have always loved Sara who was her companion and confident as a child and wants her to join in a scheme to transfer information about Confederate troop movements through Abner to the Union Army. Sara doesn’t know who to trust and what to do.
Time shifting within a story can be quite challenging but this Redtwist company under the direction of Aaron Reese manages it seamlessly. It includes some necessary adjustments to the clever set design of Kevin M. Rolfs.
The costumes by Marquecia Jordan are well considered but Missy Sue’s late 18th Century traveling dress is a standout.
Sandra and Sara stay within their own time periods while McNeese as Abner also plays university student Malik. Likewise, Loehr has the roles of Missy Sue and student Candice while Tocarra Castleman plays the enslaved LuAnne and University Instructor Jade.
Each of these actors morph effortlessly between their roles including a number of quick costume changes and substantial linguistic shifts in dialect that appears almost like a magic act.
Sandra and Sara face their own existential dangers as they confront the challenges of their white male dominated societies while simply trying to improve their lives and advance their positions.
The expert handling of this somewhat complex storyline along with the requisite dialog in both academic and historic vernacular is superb. Each of these actors have literally consumed their roles performing the material with total believability, naturalness and nuance. This is the style of acting that I yearn for and unfortunately find missing in many productions today.
I am reluctant to speak about any individual actor as they each without equivocation equally contribute to the success of the whole. This is a masterclass in acting. Any young performer looking for inspiration should rush to see this.
How is it that this superb production is hiding away in a thirty-seat storefront theater in Edgewater? Someone needs to gather up this show with this company and put them in a bigger venue with a larger audience. Both the performers and the story deserve to be seen and heard.
This goes to demonstrate that you do not need massive budgets or star power to create great theater. There is simply no substitute for good writing and insightful performance.
Redtwist is a not-for-profit enterprise that deserves your support as an audience member and/or as a philanthropic contributor.
Confederates is at Redtwist Theater, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago through March 8, 2026. Runtime is 90 minutes with no intermission. Visit redtwisttheatre.org for tickets and information.
Reviewer Reno Lovison
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