Award-winning Redtwist Theatre announces the cast and creative team for Confederates, January 29 - March 8, by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Aaron Reese Boseman, at Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Previews are Thursday, Jan. 29 - Saturday, Jan. 21at 7:30 p.m. with the press opening Sunday, Feb. 1 at 3:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3:30 p.m. with a total running time of 90 minutes with no intermission. There will be two understudy performances on Sunday, Feb.15 at 3:30 p.m. and Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Single tickets are now on sale for $10 - $60 at RedtwistTheatre.org with discounts available for seniors, students and veterans with pay-what-you-can for all Friday night performances.
Sandra is an accomplished professor, comfortable in her position until a racist cartoon is nailed to her office door; Sara is a slave in the Deep South, fighting for her freedom and spying for the union as the nation is pulled into Civil War. Despite the century between them, both women raise their voice against the institutions of racism and misogyny that hold them back. Dominique Morriseau’s (author of Detroit ’67 and Skeleton Crew) Confederates leaps through time to trace the identities of these two Black American women and the truths that bond them.
The Confederates cast includes Monique Marshaun* (she/her, Sandra); Shenise Brown (she/her, Sara); Makari Robinson-McNeese (they/them, Abner/Malik); Madelyn Loehr* (she/they, Missy Sue/Candice); Toccara Castleman (she/her, Luanne/Jade) and Hannah McCaulley (she/her, US Missy Sue/Candice)
The Confederates production team includes Aaron Reese Boseman (he/him, director); Sofie Schmeltzer (she/her, stage manager); Jasmine Robertson (she/her, asst. director); Marquecia Jordan (she/her, costume designer); Nick Barletson (he/him, props designer); Dee Etti-Williams (they/them, sound designer); Kevin Rolfs (he/him, scenic designer); Dusty Brown* (they/them, executive artistic director/technical director); Quinn Chisenhall (he/him, lighting designer); Greg Geffrard (he/him, intimacy/violence designer) and Eileen Dixon* (she/they, producing artistic director).
*indicates Redtwist Theatre Ensemble Member
ABOUT DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU, playwright
Dominique Morisseau is the author of The Detroit Project (A 3-Play Cycle), which includes the following plays: Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company), Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre) and Detroit ’67 (Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and NBT). Additional plays include: Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theatre), Sunset Baby (LAByrinth Theatre); Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre) and Follow Me To Nellie’s (Premiere Stages). She is also the Tony-nominated book writer on the new Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations (Imperial Theatre).
Morisseau is an alumna of The Public Theater Emerging Writer’s Group, Women’s Project Lab and Lark Playwrights Workshop, and has developed work at Sundance Lab, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference. She most recently served as co-producer on the Showtime series “Shameless” (three seasons).
Additional awards include: Spirit of Detroit Award, PoNY Fellowship, Sky-Cooper Prize, TEER Trailblazer Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Audelco Awards, NBFT August Wilson Playwriting Award, Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, Obie Award (two), Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, Variety’s Women of Impact for 2017-18 and a recent MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow.
ABOUT AARON REESE BOSEMAN, director
Aaron Reese Boseman is a multi-hyphenate director, actor, photographer and educator hailed for his contributions to the Chicago stage. As the co-founder and artistic director of Pulse Theatre Chicago, his visionary leadership has garnered numerous accolades, including the Jeff Award-winning Once on This Island. His recent directing portfolio features highly acclaimed runs of The House That Will Not Stand, Topdog/Underdog, The Mountaintop and A Raisin in the Sun (Invictus Theatre); Beneath the Willow Tree (world premiere by Isis Elizabeth), In the Blood, The Colored Museum, Fabulation; or the Re-Education of Undine and A Streetcar Named Desire (Pulse Theatre Chicago).
Other notable directing credits include Clyde’s and American Son (Ghostlight Theatre); The Music Man (Metropolis Performing Arts); Detroit '67 and Fabulation (Columbia College Chicago) and Fairview (Theatre at Cedar Rapids). As a performer, Boseman has appeared in Blue Heaven (Black Ensemble Theater), Ragtime (Metropolis), Ruined (Invictus) and Little Shop of Horrors (Skylight Music Theatre, Citadel Theatre and TCR). A dedicated mentor to the next generation of artists, he serves as an adjunct professor of Theatre at Columbia College Chicago. He is a multi-award nominee for the Joseph Jefferson, Black Excellence and Black Theatre Alliance Awards
MORE FROM REDTWIST’S “DEFIANT FEMMES” SEASON
’night, Mother
April 5 - May 10, 2026
By Marsha Norman
Directed by Executive Artistic Director Dusty Brown
Life has beaten Jessie down. Spiraling between a failed marriage, a cruel son and an aging parent, Jessie is determined to take control over the one sliver of life left to her. When new horrors batter at her daily; when society isolates her and the world turns to chaos; when a promised future dwindles and her hope fades: Jessie digs up her father’s old pistol. Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer Prize winning play catapults through a mother and daughter’s darkest day together.
Productions, participants and dates are subject to change.
ABOUT REDTWIST THEATRE
Redtwist, now celebrating its 21st anniversary, is an award-winning theatre company that stages up close and personal contemporary dramas annually in its intimate black box theatre housed proudly within the heart of Edgewater’s Bryn Mawr Historic District.
Intimate performances at Redtwist are designed to place the theatre patron in the midst of the stories being told, making them accessible and riveting. Redtwist strives for excellence with every project and endeavors to take risks while offering opportunities for up-and-coming actors, designers and directors to work with established talent. Redtwist provides the very best Chicago storefront theatre experience from excellence on stage, to warm hospitality in a clean, friendly environment.
Award-winning Redtwist Theatre announces the cast and creative team for Confederates, January 29 - March 8, by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Aaron Reese Boseman, at Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Previews are Thursday, Jan. 29 - Saturday, Jan. 21at 7:30 p.m. with the press opening Sunday, Feb. 1 at 3:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3:30 p.m. with a total running time of 90 minutes with no intermission. There will be two understudy performances on Sunday, Feb.15 at 3:30 p.m. and Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Single tickets are now on sale for $10 - $60 at RedtwistTheatre.org with discounts available for seniors, students and veterans with pay-what-you-can for all Friday night performances.
Top (L to R): Monique Marshaun, Toccara Castleman
Middle: Makari Robinson-McNeese
Bottom (L to R): Shenise Brown, Madelyn Loehr