Growing Up in a Troubled Global Environment

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Photo by Marie Helser Photography

Nessia Grace in 'Red Days' (2026) - All-In Productions

Nessiah Grace as Dianna Abel in All-In Productions' production of 'Red Days' (2026).

Coming of age is difficult. There are so many factors beyond anyone’s control. Growing up means knowing how much there is beyond an individual’s influence. All-In Productions explores some of the deeper elements of this in the Milwaukee premiere of Red Days, a teen drama set a few years into the future in a world of perpetually bad air quality. Erica Case directs a small cast in an intimate look at socio-economic and psychological factors that impact the global environment.

Nessiah Grace is a powerful presence at the center of the cast in the role of Diana Abel. She’s a high school athlete who suffers ill effects from training as the captain of the school’s cross-country team. Though the script lacks some nuance and finesse in places, Brittany Haut cultivates an intricate rapport with Grace in the role of Diana’s mother Connie. She’s the coach of the cross-country team who is constantly pushing her daughter to succeed.

Patrice Hood lends some personality to the production as local DJ Leona Day, who finds herself reluctantly providing an internship opportunity for Diana. Graham Olen rounds-out the cast as an aspiring musician who joins the cross-country team and starts falling for Diana in spite of her mother’s feelings on the matter. It’s a tightly woven drama that feels all-too familiar after the air quality issues in Milwaukee this past July due in large part to Canadian wildfire smoke. There’s an explosively aggressive quality to the respiratory distress brought to the stage in the production that might feel amplified for dramatic effect, but the environmental concerns addressed in the play are frighteningly real.

All-In Productions’ Red Days runs through Sep. 19 at Pink’s Accessible Theater House, 1104 W. Historic Mitchell St. For ticket reservations and more, visit All-In online.