From March 5-23, Playmakers Repertory Company put on "Confederates," a play which explores the triumphs and struggles of two women living in interconnected worlds. “Confederates” takes place exclusively in two settings: a modern day university office and a plantation during the American Civil War era.
The play was written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Christopher Windom. The story follows Sara, an enslaved woman who is working as a Union spy, and Sandra, an accomplished professor of political science at a university.
Sara, played by Mengwe Wapimewah, and Sandra, portrayed by Kathryn Hunter-Williams, are Black women living in vastly different, yet in many ways similar, eras. Sandra navigates systemic racism as one of the few Black professors at her university, while Sara faces the direct oppression of enslavement. These two characters are connected by a photo of Sara’s mother, which a student uses in the present day to harass Sandra.
Morisseau uses humor to highlight how systemic oppression has shaped both the present and the past, exposing subtle biases in contemporary society that mirror the blatant racism and sexism of Sara’s time. The dialogue also explores the internalized biases that all the characters have in relation to each other, be it gender or racial biases.
Kate Poss, a senior psychology major, attended “Confederates” for a class she is currently taking, Drama 288: Theater for Social Change. She said that the humor became more apparent when she saw “Confederates” live, as compared to reading it for the first time in class, where it felt heavier.
“Seeing that made me appreciate the macro-scale and also realize that maybe a light-hearted comedic tone is also a part of breaking that trauma cycle,” Poss said.
Jacqueline Lawton, dramaturg for “Confederates” and UNC professor of Dramatic Arts who teaches Theater for Social Change, said that the play aims to explore the tethers between the characters across the two settings. A unique aspect of the play is some actors' double roles. Kristofer Wilson, for instance, plays both Abner and Malik. Abner, Sara’s brother, is fighting for his freedom and respect alongside Union insurrectionists, while Malik, a top student in the present day, must work twice as hard to prove his worth in a world still entrenched in racial bias.
Elizabeth Dye plays Missy Sue, the plantation owner’s daughter as well as Candice, a student of Sandra’s. In both settings, these characters express their reverence for Sara and Sandra, but at the same time are quite patronizing. For instance, Missy Sue explains to Sara that being enslaved is horrible, to which Sara retorts, “Oh, really?”
“I think Missy Sue and Candace do have good intentions, but the way they go about things is very ignorant and harmful in the way that they don’t register,” Dye said.
