Photo by Michael Brosilow
Is This A Room - Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
Left to right: Isabelle Muthiah, Jonathan Wainwright and Rassell Holt in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's 'Is This A Room' (2026)
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre keeps plowing through their incredibly strong season of real people’s stories full of angst and humor alike with their newest production, the Milwaukee premiere of Is This a Room? directed by MCT’s Artistic Director Brent Hazelton. Is This a Room? doesn’t have a playwright to credit, though it was originally conceived and directed by Tina Satter, because its script—as well as sound cues—is a verbatim FBI transcript from June 3, 2017. Truth be told, I thought Rassell Holt, playing Special Agent R. Wallace Taylor (or, Wally), flubbed his line at the very start of the performance.
But no, it was his character who had begun a sentence poorly! The ensemble was precision itself, recreating um’s and coughs and even sniffles down to the letter. They were certainly awkward, as well, but that’s because real conversations—especially between FBI agents and the woman for whom they have a search warrant—are choppy and confusing. Their motivations, as well, were as clear as anyone’s ever are … so, not at all. It made for a gripping watch, with constant reminders that—yes, they really said that. So might you have done in this situation.
With no set pieces to be seen, the audience entered into a soundscape with the characters. Sound designer Josh Schmidt captured the heat of a Texas summer day: one couldn’t escape the constant buzzing of locusts while the characters were outside, and I could swear I felt cooler once they’d gone inside. In conjunction with the lighting design (Jason Fassl), the [REDACTED] moments of the transcript became a full-room experience: they were at first a shock, then an expectation, then a cause for laughter, and finally, a chilling reminder that we are never guaranteed unadulterated information.
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Intimidating Team
Photo by Michael Brosilow
Is This A Room - Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (2026)
Left to right: Rassell Holt, Jonathan Wainwright and Isabelle Muthiah in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's 'Is This A Room' (2026)
Jonathan Wainwright played alongside Holt as Wally’s partner, Special Agent Justin C. Garrick. The two of them made a great—intimidating and frustrating—team, especially when joined by the gruff Unknown Male FBI agent (Mark Corkins). There was not a moment when Corkins was not agitated, in both his voice and physicality; he complemented the calmer, though still imposing, demeanor of Wainwright and Holt.
Both Holt and Wainwright were clear in their use of different tactics to make Reality Winner, played by Isabelle Muthiah, break. The three of them slowly groped through the agonizing process of poking and prodding and giving up bits of information only when deemed strategic. Wainwright and Holt did not dip into the cliche of good-cop-bad-cop, but instead eased in and out of wolf- and shark-like approaches, appealing to a sense of camaraderie and complimenting Reality with a kind look at one moment and circling her while she attempts to read her own warrant in the next.
Muthiah played Reality with a baseline confidence that was well-earned and evidently important to her sense of self, heightening each moment that deviated to unsurety or timidness and occasionally releasing into arrogance or anger. And while Reality Winner was guilty of the crime for which she was being questioned, one still rooted for her. At times, she felt like the stand-in character for all of us, faced with that anxiety and fear of appearing noncompliant to those with more power than us while still wanting to get all the facts and advocate for the rights we know we should have.
Classified Truth?
And what was she guilty of? Spreading truth, albeit classified truth? Even with all the identifying features of the dialogue removed, the true good intentions behind Reality’s exposure of secret information to the public shines through, and by the end, I think even Wally and Garrick were moved. The reality of her circumstances, however, bring to light who the justice system truly serves, and it’s not patriots like her.
MCT’s Is This a Room? is as timely and informative as it is entertaining and thought-provoking. Seeing an entirely local team bring this transcript to life is a special opportunity, and I plan to take advantage of it at least once more. You won’t want to miss one sneeze!
Is This a Room? runs through April 5 at the Broadway Theatre Center 158 N. Broadway. Purchase tickets online at milwaukeechambertheatre.org or by calling the box office at (414) 291-7800.
