Photo Credit: Michael Brosilow
They are four women named Wife #1, Wife #2, Wife #3 and Wife #4, and they will take your breath away in Eclipsed, by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Set in the midst of the Second Liberian Civil War (1999-2003), the play is mostly confined to a single compound where the wives are made to serve the Commanding Officer who kidnapped them and regularly rapes them. Robbed of their lives, identities and even names, they struggle to survive in a war where women have to either sell their bodies or pick up arms and fight. A fifth woman, Rita (Nancy Moricette), an advocate for peace searching for her lost daughter, walks in and out of the lives of the four protagonists.
Eclipsed shines as a work by and about women of color. Playwright Danai Gurira, known for her acting role in the Oscar-winning movie Black Panther, highlights the exceptional resilience of these women, and The Rep celebrates modern, local women of color during performances by sharing the stories of “SHEroes” among us.
Although the Liberian Civil War was largely fought by men, they don’t appear in the play; even the Commanding Officer, ever-present as a light shining upon the wives when he picks a sexual partner, only exists through the reactions of the females on stage. It is their stories and coping mechanisms that make up the core of the script. Wife #1 (Jacqueline Nwabueze), the oldest, is caring and motherly; she wants to grow and learn, but servitude is all she knows. Wife #2 (Ashleigh Awusie) chose a soldier’s life, and it’s through toxic masculine behaviors and violence that she tries to protect herself. Wife #3 (Sola Thompson) is pregnant and terrified of becoming ugly, as her looks saved her from being gang-raped. Wife #4 (Matty Sangare), the youngest, a bright girl who can read and is too naive for the compound, is the audience’s vehicle to discover that grim world.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
The actresses are all exceptional, and they effortlessly adopt the accents and speech patterns of the wives through which they convey immensely powerful moments of human suffering. A character-driven drama can easily tumble, but it is impossible to look away from the masterful performances of this all-star cast. The show plays with the full range of emotions, not shying away from intense anguish but also finding humor in endearing bickering, or when the characters read a book about Bill Clinton, drawing amusing parallels between America and Liberia—and instilling the thought that, within our lifetime, real women were dealing with the horrors depicted on stage.
Eclipsed is not a play that can be forgotten; it reaches into you and grabs your innards and simply won’t let go. If there is only one play in Milwaukee that you will remember decades from now, Eclipsed might be it.
Through March 29, at the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, 108 E. Wells St.
