Confederates

Dominique Morisseau’s most radical play yet follows two Black women living more than a century apart as they struggle to define freedom for themselves.

Confederates tells the story of two women in what at first appear to be radically different circumstances. Sara is an enslaved rebel ferrying information from the plantation to Union soldiers. Sandra is a political science professor fighting the patriarchy at a predominantly white university. As the play progresses, the line between the past and present blurs, raising questions about how far we have come since 1865-and how far we still have to go.

In Morisseau’s words, I don’t believe in the inhumanity of the enslaved. This play delves into serious themes with a satirical tone, juxtaposing humor and sexuality alongside pain and struggle. Confederates is an ambitious work by one of America’s most exciting playwrights.

Author Biography

Dominique Morisseau is the author of The Detroit Project, which includes the plays Skeleton Crew, Paradise Blue, and Detroit ’67. Additional plays include Pipeline, Sunset Baby, Blood at the Root, Follow Me To Nellie’s, Confederates, Bad Kreyl, and the Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud The Life and Times of the Temptations, for which she earned a Tony nomination. She is currently developing Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical. Morisseau is an alumna of The Public Theater Emerging Writers 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 also served as co-producer on the Showtime series Shameless Grant.