The saying, “war is hell,” came to mind when witnessing a play that takes place during the 2003 Liberian civil war. Children were recruited as warriors and sent to the front lines of battle. Young women either joined the military or became subjects of the men around them. These women, dragged away from their families and communities, were known as “wives.” They were forced into sex slavery and servitude. That’s pretty grim stuff, even for a war play. Playwright Danai Gurira personalizes the brutality of war in the lives of four Liberian women in her play, Eclipsed., which opened recently at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. The US-born Gurira spent some time living near Platteville, WI, before the family moved to their native Zimbabwe. Gurira stayed in Africa until she returned to the US as a college student (she attended a small college in Minnesota). There she pursued acting and playwriting. She’s probably best known for her acting roles as two women warriors: Michonne on AMC’’s post-zombie apocalypse drama, “The Walking Dead,” and as Okoye in the film, “Black Panther.” Gurira’s personal experience figures heavily in the play’s ability to draw parallels between the US and a nation such as Liberia. The play cagily draws the audience into it sphere, until we are wholly invested in the lives of these women. Under the direction of May Adrales, the cast works effectively as an ensemble to draw us into the narrative. A bit of background: Eclipsed premiered at the Wooly Mammoth Theater Company in Washington, DC. A successful Off-Broadway run followed and, in 2016, the play moved to the John Golden Theater on Broadway. Featured in the cast was the Academy Award-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”). She played the show’s youngest cast member, called The Girl. The production also was notable for being the first Broadway production with an all-black, female creative team and cast. The play received six Tony Award nominations, and one win for best costumes. It is no wonder that a theater company such as the Milwaukee Repertory would embrace such a play. The company’s leadership has been very vocal in its commitment to diversity and inclusion, and this production is clear evidence of this commitment. In the Milwaukee production, Eclipsed opens on a nearly empty stage, flanked by tall trees that are connected by long laundry lines. In one corner, a small campfire is topped with a makeshift grill and a black pot. Behind the stage is a rusty metal backdrop that may represent the remnants of a building. The setting (by designer Collette Pollard) emphasizes how little comfort and convenience surrounds these women. We quickly learn that this temporary encampment shelters the “wives” of a commanding officer. Two of the older, more experienced “wives” are attempting to hide the arrival of a 15-year-old orphaned girl, who recently has been stolen from her village. She (Matty Sangare) is destined to become Wife #4. At first, the girl is so skittish that nearly every sound causes her to leap underneath a wash tub. The unseen commander makes his presence known with an occasional bright light emanating from a doorway. At this sign, the wives stop their bickering and bantering; they fall silent. As if on cue, they line up in order of their status, waiting for the commander to take his pick. Wife #1 (Jacqueline Nwabueze) is getting a bit old (at 28) for the commander to show much interest in her. Wife #2 (Ashleigh Awusie) is a no-show; she has run off from the compound to join the rebels as a fighter. Wife #3 (Sola Thompson) is pregnant with the commander’s child. That leaves the 15-year-old to be called repeatedly to the commander’s chamber. At the man’s silent command, she moves slowly, and silently, towards the doorway. When the women are not submitting to the general’s lust, Gurira allows us to fully explore their characters and relationships. At one point, another woman appears. Rita (Nancy Moricette), a member of the Liberian Women Initiative for Peace, arrives to talk with the commander about finding a solution to end the war. Eventually, she sneaks out to the compound where the wives are kept. Rita demands to know Wife #1’s real name, but Wife #1 can only whisper it into Rita’s ear. She is clearly afraid of Rita and her mission, saying, “I don’t know who I is outside of war.” The same could be said of all the women. Even Rita herself is searching for a missing daughter. Although the facts about this play make it sound rather gloomy, Gurira infuses it with lighter moments, some laughter and, in the end, a glimmer of hope. Some of the funnier bits come from a cast-off paperback that the women find in the spoils of war. It is a biography of Bill Clinton. The Girl (Wife #4) is the only one among the wives who is literate, and she reads bits and pieces of different chapters to the other women. They get more interested in the book when it involves Monica Lewinsky, whom one wife aptly describes as “Clinton’s #2.” When Rita explains to Wife #1 that it’s an older book, and offers to share an update with her, Wife #1 shouts in protest that she doesn’t want Rita to spoil the ending. The book also brings home the connection between the US and Liberia. Although the wives have very little understanding of how things actually work in such a far-off land, they view Clinton’s life through their own African perspective. And the militant Wife #2, who eventually recruits Wife #4 to join her in fighting the enemy, covets her own spoils of war: Western-looking clothes. After spending a month together, both women are wearing designer jeans and fancy belts (courtesy of costume designer Kara Harmon). One of them even sports a pair of Timberland boots. As the play ends, the war is over. The women wonder what the future holds for them. Rita encourages the wives to come with her to a refugee camp. It’s unsure how these women will fare in a country that has been ravaged by a long, bloody war, and Gurira doesn’t provide any easy answers. But at least there’s some hope that the women will be able to channel their strength into finding their own way in the world.
