Signature Theatre celebrated the New York premiere of CONFEDERATES by MacArthur Genius Fellow and Residency 5 playwright Dominique Morisseau on March 27. Previews began in The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre on March 8 and the production has been extended by one week through April 17. Helmed by Stori Ayers, the cast features Elijah Jones, Kristolyn Lloyd, Andrea Patterson, Kenzie Ross, and Michelle Wilson. Understudies include Sharina Martin, Freddie Fulton, Fiona Robberson and Shanelle Leonard.
Cast members Elijah Jones, Kenzie Ross, Kristolyn Lloyd, Michelle Wilson, Andrea Patterson. Photo by Lia Chang
The creative team includes Scenic Design by Rachel Hauck, Costume Design by Ari Fulton, Co-Lighting Design by Amith Chandrashaker and Emma Deane, Co-Sound Design by Curtis Craig and Jimmy Keys, Projection Design by Kate Freer, Intimacy Coordinator by Ann James, with Casting by Caparelliotis Casting. Jonathan Castanien is the Production Stage Manager.
Check out the opening night photos below.
The company of Confederates. Photo by Lia Chang
Cast member Michelle Wilson. Photo by Lia Chang
Cast member Kristolyn Lloyd. Photo by Lia Chang
Cast member Kenzie Ross. Photo by Lia Chang
Cast member Andrea Patterson. Photo by Lia Chang
Cast member Elijah Jones. Photo by Lia Chang
Understudies Freddie Fulton, Fiona Robberson, Sharina Martin, Shanelle Leonard. Photo by Lia Chang
The cast and understudies: Freddie Fulton, Shanelle Leonard, Elijah Jones, Kenzie Ross, Kristolyn Lloyd, Michelle Wilson, Andrea Patterson, Sharina Martin, Fiona Robberson. Photo by Lia Chang
Playwright Dominique Morisseau. Photo by Lia Chang
Co-Sound Designer Jimmy Keys AKA J. Keys. Photo by Lia Chang
Jimmy Keys and Dominique Morisseau. Photo by Lia Chang
Scenic Designer Rachel Hauck with Lisa Peterson (left). Photo by Lia Chang
Assistant Costume Designer Jessica Irvin and Costume Designer Ari Fulton. Photo by Lia Chang
Projection Designer Kate Freer and Tye Defoe. Photo by Lia Chang
Hair, Wig and Makeup Designer Nikiya Mathis. Photo by Lia Chang
Signature Resident Writers Lynn Nottage, Lauren Yee and Dominique Morisseau, Artistic Director Paige Evans, and Resident Writer Bill Irwin. Photo by Lia Chang
Resident Writer Lauren Yee and David Shih. Photo by Lia Chang
Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Photo by Lia Chang
Dominique Morisseau and Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Photo by Lia Chang
Dominique Morisseau with Lydia R. Diamond (left). Photo by Lia Chang
Dominique Morisseau and Lynn Nottage. Photo by Lia Chang
Dominique Morisseau, Lynn Nottage and Lydia R. Diamond. Photo by Lia Chang
Lauren Yee and Lynn Nottage. Photo by Lia Chang
Lynn Nottage. Photo by Lia Chang
Lydia R. Diamond. Photo by Lia Chang
Resident Writers The Mad Ones’ Joe Curnutte and Michael Dalto. Photo by Lia Chang
Michael Greif with daughter Hannah (left). Photo by Lia Chang
Brandon J. Dirden and Crystal Dickinson. Photo by Lia Chang
Resident Writer Bill Irwin. Photo by Lia Chang
Fatimah Amil, X, Emmy Steel, Jonathan Castanien, Tinika Sadikua. Photo by Lia Chang
Billy Eugene Jones, Keith Arthur Bolden and Jordan Mahome. Photo by Lia Chang
Brandon J. Dirden, Jordan Mahome, Billy Eugene Jones and Jimmy Keys. Photo by Lia Chang
In CONFEDERATES, Sara, an enslaved rebel turned Union spy, and Sandra, a tenured professor in a modern-day private university, have parallel experiences of institutional racism, though they live over a century apart. CONFEDERATES leaps through time to trace the identities of these two Black American women and explore the reins that racial and gender bias still hold on American educational systems today.
Tickets are $35 tickets from March 8 – April 10, thanks to the Signature Ticket Initiative. Tickets for the extension Apr. 12–17: $40–80.
Click here to purchase tickets.
Educators Night – April 6, 2022 at 7:30pm
This performance is dedicated to centering Black Women in Education and open to all to attend. Following the performance will be a discussion moderated by Donna Walker-Kuhne (Walker International Communications Group, Signature Board Trustee) with June Cross (Director of Documentary Journalism Program at Columbia), Dr. Brenda M. Greene (Executive Director of Center for Black Literature) and Dominique Morisseau (Confederates writer, Playwright/Activist).
Black Women educators: Enter code BWEDUCATION to access seats reserved for Black women educators for this performance, plus waive fees for any performance.
Global Majority Night – April 15, 2022 at 7:30pm
This performance is dedicated to people of the Global Majority (also known as BIPOC—Black, Indigenous or People of Color) coming together to experience theatre. If you do not identify as the aforementioned, we kindly encourage you to help make space for members of that community by selecting another performance. Click here for tickets.
CONTENT ADVISORY: This play features a brief moment of partial nudity and projected photographs with partial nudity.
COVID-19 ADVISORY: Proof of COVID-19 vaccination with a booster and masks are required for all visitors. Learn more about our COVID-19 protocol.
Playwright Dominique Morisseau. Photo by Lia Chang
DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU (Playwright) is the author of The Detroit Project (A 3-Play Cycle): Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company and Manhattan Theatre Club), 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 Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations (Imperial Theatre). TV/Film projects: She most recently served as Co-Producer on the Showtime series “Shameless.” She’s currently developing projects with Netflix, HBO, and A24, and wrote the film adaptation of the documentary STEP for Fox Searchlight. 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 (2), and the Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, named one of Variety’s Women of Impact for 2017-18 and a recipient of the 2018 MacArthur Genius Grant.
Playbill: See Opening Night Photos of Dominique Morisseau’s Confederates Off-Broadway
Lia Chang
Lia Chang loves to tell stories that are diverse and inclusive – as an actor, a multi-media content producer, award-winning filmmaker, and a performing arts photographer and documentarian. Photo archives: Lia Chang Theater Portfolio collection,1989-2011, housed in the AAPI collection in the Library of Congress’ Asian Reading Room; Lia Chang Photography Collection in The Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library. Awards: 2000 OCA Chinese American Journalist Award, the 2001 AAJA National Award for New Media. Lia is an AAJA Executive Leadership Graduate (2000), a Western Knight Fellow at USC’s Annenberg College of Communications for Specialized Journalism on Entertainment Journalism in the Digital Age (2000), a National Press Photographers Association Visual Edge/Visual Journalism Fellow at the Poynter Institute for New Media (2001), a Scripps Howard New Media Fellow at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism (2002), and a National Tropical Garden Environmental Journalism Fellow (2003). A co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, Lia makes films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. She stars in and is the Executive Producer for the indie films Hide and Seek (AA Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Best Actress Nomination), Rom-Com Gone Wrong, and When the World Was Young (2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative). Lia has also appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, and The Last Dragon. Along with an extensive career in Off-Broadway productions, favorite stage credits include her debut as Liat in a national tour of South Pacific with Barbara Eden and Robert Goulet and playing Joy in Signature Theatre’s revival of Sam Shepard’s Chicago. www.liachang.com, www.liachangphotography.com
Lia Chang Photography 