In 1980, a couple years before Shedrick Yarkpai was born, a master sergeant named Samuel Doe led a coup against Liberian president William Tolbert Jr., executing Tolbert and his entire cabinet. In 1990 Doe was executed in his turn by forces under the command of Charles Taylor. Yarkpai was a child at that point, living with his mother in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. There followed a civil war that’s reported to have displaced a million people and killed anywhere from 200,000 to 600,000. (By comparison, it’s estimated that the Syrian civil war has so far killed about 400,000.) That lasted until 1997, when Yarkpai was a teenager. A second civil war began in 1999, ending in 2003 with the resignation of Taylor, who escaped into exile despite indictments against him for crimes against humanity.
Shedrick/Zaza confides his false identity to Rob Mosher (Ryan Kitley), a middle-aged, white Australian lawyer who’s taken the young African under his wing. Looking into it, Mosher finds that there’s a simple, no-fault solution: a single form Zaza can sign to become Shedrick again. Uncle John won’t hear of it, though, and the second half of Objects in the Mirror turns into a struggle between Yarkpai’s two benefactors: the black one who brought him out of Liberia and the white one who can help bring him out of hiding in Adelaide.
Through 6/4: Wed 7:30 PM, Thu 2 and 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 and 7:30 PM (2 PM only 5/28 and 6/4); also Tue 5/23, 7:30 Goodman Theatre 170 N. Dearborn 312-443-3800goodmantheatre.org$20-$75
