Photo by Joan Marcus

For the first time in Broadway history, an all-female cast, directed by a female director in a play written by a female playwright are treading the boards of the Great White Way. And what an impact they are making! Last week, as this year's Tony Awards nominations were announced, Eclipsed (alongside 'The Humans') became the most nominated play of the season with a total of 6 nods. Besides the coveted 'Best Play' category, director Liesl Tommy, costume designer Clint Ramos and three of the cast's talented actresses picked up nominations. Leading the cast and plastering the billboards and playbills with a close-up of her undeniably beautiful face is Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o (nominated for 'Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play'). The "12 Years a Slave" actress actually understudied the same role, whilst training back at the Yale School of Drama, and through her elevated Oscar-winning status, she now finds herself bringing "The Girl" (as she is billed) to life eight times a week on Broadway. Saycon Sengbloh and Pascale Armand (both nominated for 'Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play') take on their respective roles of "Wife #1" and "Wife #3", whilst Zainab Jah and Akosua Busia round out the cast as "Wife #2" and "Rita", a peace worker.

The play comes from the Tony-nominated hands of Danai Gurira, perhaps better known as an actress and portraying zombie-slaughtering Michonne on TV's "The Walking Dead." Gurira's skill is clearly evident in exploring the horrific themes of the Liberian Civil War through the microcosm of a small group of women, kidnapped by a warlord, serially raped and held captive in a shack in 2003. For those of you already thinking this might be too heavy an evening for your tastes, I found that one of the most remarkable feats of Gurira's writing is how she is able to delicately conjure just the right amount of comic relief to spare the audience from that sort of an evening. A lot of the humour comes from Armand's character, which she plays out with great relish. Another element which stood out to me was the conflict between the women themselves. There was a constant tug-of-war between female comradery, as well as females exploiting each other for their own gain. So many interesting questions are posed: Would you remain a victim, if it meant that the only way to escape this was to become the victimiser? What will empower you more in life - an education or a weapon to strike fear in others?

Gurira's clever use of names (or lack of names) bring so many questions of identity into play. The wives are ranked from 1 to 4, depending on who has been with the warlord the longest, and this brings with it an interesting hierarchy, as well as maternal instincts, jealousy and backstabbing. Female soldiers are also given names such as 'Disgruntled' or 'Mother's Blessing' as they identify with their new position of empowerment, but it is the birth names that are seemingly long forgotten that make the most impact when they are finally revealed towards the end of the play, as the women revert back to their identities before the acts of Civil War took hold.

As an audience member, my heart was broken time and time again, by the treatment of these women by male characters, who are never seen on stage, but whose presence is deeply felt. I empathised with the women and, through Gurira's marvelous writing, never lost sight of hope. I am glad that this story is able to be told on such a grand and deserved platform.

Click here for tickets to Eclipsed for performances through to 19 June 2016 at Broadway's Golden Theatre.

- by Tom Millward