I have never attended a play where any of the dialogue was….REDACTED. Welcome to the 21st Century.
Is This A Room is an original concept put together by Tina Satter and the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre is fortunate to be able to bring this to Milwaukee. Satter has built this play on the actual transcript of the interrogation of whistleblower Reality Winner by the FBI on June 3, 2017. Winner was arrested for leaking an intelligence report related to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. She was later convicted and sentenced to over five years in prison. The fact that the transcript alone makes intense dramatic dialogue is amazing.
First, let’s consider the set, or in this case, lack of set for Is This A Room. Instead we have an industrial strength gray carpet mid-theater with the Chamber Theatre’s seating split with a portion on either side of our stage. Not quite theater in the round but not Chamber’s usual layout either. As we move into the action, we understand why this is important. The transcript/dialogue clearly indicates our location and describes how the action moves from one site to another. AND, as the cast thrusts and parries through their conversations, they intensify those moods and feelings with agitated pacing around the space/room. And there are times where director Brent Hazelton has the cast move about in obvious stalking or moves to make advantage in their physical relationship to the other characters. When many observers or critics talk about directors choreographing the action on stage, it tends to be more metaphor than fact, but in Is This A Room, Hazelton has choreographed an actual dance here. And Hazelton’s facility in crafting this text into an engaging play on stage is equally satisfying.
Isabelle Muthiah is Reality Leigh Winner. Muthiah is ingenious as Winner. Initially playing a naivety card, she is cool and coy and intentionally slow to understand what is going on until the FBI plays their cards. And even as events start going against her, Muthiah never loses her cool or her control and sometimes leads the agents down a tangential path. Jonathan Wainwright plays Special Agent Justin C. Garrick, the bad cop in our pair of special agents? Well, not the bad cop in a forceful threatening way, but the bad cop in asking most of the questions and always the most direct questions, and the holder of the facts at hand. Wainwright tries to project something of a wise fatherly figure, trying to put Winner at ease. And Special Agent R. Wallace Taylor is played by Rasell Holt. Holt’s Taylor shows more empathy for Winner and I guess, he would be considered the good cop. He asks questions, but not the direct type we get from Garrick, but follow up questions or clarification questions which do show his empathy.
And then there is the Unknown Male! Well, well not exactly unknown. While Garrick and Taylor are both plainclothes special agents, the Unknown Male is in full FBI regalia and armed to the teeth. And Unknown Male is played by one of my favorite actors, Mark Corkins. It was great to see him on a local stage again outside of his annual appearances in the Christmas Carol. Well, Corkins gives us an officer who is something of a doofus. Wandering around seemingly aimlessly, often unaware of his surroundings, generally unaware of those around him, constantly distracted, but absolutely sinister! And he gets to deliver the line that gives the play its name, Is This A Room?
When working with a minimal set, other technical items become far more important. Like lighting: Jason Fassl is the Scenic & Lighting Designer here and the mood and direction on stage is clearly emphasized by Fassl’s lighting. And Stephanie K. Brownell’s costumes set us in the right place and atmosphere as well. The special agents and Winner are dressed in casual clothes which supports the initial casual conversations in the text. But as I said, Corkins is absolutely sinister in his role as an FBI agent and that is enhanced by Brownell’s custom FBI costume.
Is This A Room continues through April 5, 2026 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre. Run time: approximately 75 minutes with no intermissions.
Additional information and ticket info can be found here. When ordering tickets, please note the changes in seating for this play.