"To succeed in life you need three things-
a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone."
-Reba McEntire
confederates
WRITTEN by dominique morisseau
Directed by Donna Marie McMillan
February 9-24, 2024
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 p.m.
Sundays at 2 p.m.
Performances will be held at
The Arts Factory at West End Studios
1545 W. Trade St
Single Tickets and Flex Passes Available Now!
Advance Purchase Online: $25 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Night of Show at the Door: $30 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Students and Educators: $15 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Discounted pricing available for groups of 10 or more, contact us at info@threebonetheatre.com to learn more
2019 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award
NOMINEE- 2022 Drama League Award, Outstanding Production and Direction
NOMINEE- 2022 Antonyo Award for Best Play
Sara, an enslaved rebel turned Union spy, and Sandra, a tenured professor in a modern-day private university, are having parallel experiences of institutional racism, though they live over a century apart. The latest work from MacArthur Genius Fellow Dominique Morisseau 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.
Confedrates contains strong adult language, partial nudity, adult themes around race and gender, and descriptions and depictions of anti-Black and anti-Female sentiments and violence. Recommend for ages 16+.
What People Are Saying
Praise from the original production
The New York Times
*Crtics' Pick*
“Beautiful language that’s wedded to tales of adversity — the play is full of such paradoxes... a work about racism that is truly funny.”
theatrely
“A master at weaving together personal, historical, and social narratives, Morisseau here delivers her most ambitious, possibly most galvanizing, work yet.”
new york stage reviW
“From sequence to sequence through the 1860s and the currently ambivalent early 21st-century, Morisseau deals with blatantly racist issues, not missing many.”
Theater Life
“[Morisseau's] thought-provoking play is sometimes deadly earnest and sometimes surprisingly (but intentionally) hilarious.”
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Meet the Artists
Dominique Morisseau
Playwright
Over the past decade Dominique Morisseau has established herself as not only one of America’s preeminent dramatists but as a visionary force in the field of theater across the globe. Her body of work, including the hugely ambitious and critically acclaimed three-play cycle The Detroit Project (Skeleton Crew [2016], Paradise Blue [2015], and Detroit ’67 [2013]), is both deeply poetic and sharply philosophical, drawing upon the rich histories of Black American literature, music, and activism to create unflinching—and wildly entertaining—dramatic experiences. In the Detroit Project plays, as well as in standalone works like Confederates (2022), Pipeline (2017), and Blood at the Root (2014), Morisseau dramatizes the entanglement of art and politics with care, sophistication, and a fervent conviction. Morisseau also has made an impact as a leader in her artistic communities. Countless young writers name Morisseau as a key influence, and her perspectives on community-building, inclusion, and transparency have changed the culture of theater-making for the better. Her many accolades include, most recently, a Drama Desk Award (2019), a MacArthur Fellowship (2018), two Obie Awards (2018, 2016), and a Steinberg Playwright Award (2015). She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.
Donna Marie McMillan
Director
Donna Marie is a socially engaged, performance artist, actress, director, and activist. She enjoys using performance arts to share the stories of people of color that engage communities, educate, and promote intercultural healing and understanding. She is Founder and Artistic Director of TOASTCO (telling our authentic stories theatre company), a nonprofit, multicultural theatre company established Jan 2015, in Stockton, California, and was the honored recipient of the “City Award” by the Stockton Arts Commission, for bringing quality, engaging, cultural theater arts programming to Stockton.
Donna Marie loves black box theater! She has enjoyed producing and directing new and original works such as Across the Border con Camacho (Manuel Camacho) and Aurora (Jeannie Barroga), some classics and new works such as A Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry), The Contribution (Ted Shine), The Whipping Man (Matthew Lopez), Sisters Matsumoto (Philip Kan Gotanda), Los Dos Caras Del Patroncito (Luis Valdez), August Blues (August Wilson), and Herbert III (Ted Shine), to name a few. Her artistic mission, “Expanding Minds One Show at a Time”.
This is Donna Marie’s directorial debut in Charlotte, NC and she is excited and honored to join Three Bone Theatre as Director of “Confederates” by Dominique Morisseau.
Learn More
Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED)
Community Partner
We serve each and every child by also making students of color central to every facet of how schools function.
CREED’s research and policy recommendations center the culture, gifts, and agency of students of color, advocate for choices that truly serve students of color, and equip educators with important skills and resources to reach and teach each and every child in the North Carolina education system.