Secret Soldiers: Heroines In Disguise

A co-production with UMKC Theatre
Written by Wendy Lement
Co-directed by Jeff Church & Bree Elrod

Featuring Freddy Acevedo, Yetunde Felix-Ukwu, Jason Francescon, Khalif J. Gillett, Emilie Karas, Chelsea Kinser, Marianne McKenzie & Roan Ricker

January 22 - February 10, 2019

The secret history of women who fought as men in the civil war is revealed in this engrossing Coterie production. Several stories are uncovered in an interlocking set of true tales of battlefront women, with a focus on solider Private Lyons Wakeman (a.k.a Sarah Wakeman) whose letters were discovered by her nephew in an attic years after her death.

Into Wakeman’s path comes an interaction with Harriet Tubman and Joseph Cassell, who went from slave to Sergeant in the 29th Connecticut Infantry, an African American regiment.

In this unique production, the audience is enlisted to be medical officers who will decide the fate of Lyons Wakeman: whether the medical record will reflect this individual’s birth gender (and thus be denied a pension), or keep history hidden and receive all the benefits of military service.

Length: 65 minutes

Find educator resources and curriculum extensions at coterie.edublogs.org.