Watch your ideas of good and evil go up in flames in Covenant, masterfully executed by Theater Alliance. Following a sold-out Off-Broadway run in 2023, this Southern gothic tale arrives at the perfect time to ignite your imagination and set fire to what you think you believe. It is a riveting and spellbinding play about lies and secrets, truth and trust, piety and shame, and the power of identity and belief.
When bluesman Johnny (Isaiah Q. Reed) returns to his hometown in 1930s Georgia after years of touring juke joints, playing like an angel and smooth talking instead of stuttering, rumors circulate that he acquired his guitar skills by selling his soul to the Devil. Blues aficionados might recognize the nod to the real-life bluesman Robert Johnson, whose prodigious skills and songwriting resulted in his being accused of playing “the Devil’s music.”
Johnny’s return inspires differing reactions from the four women who round out this accomplished cast. Mama (Fatima Quander) is religiously devout and unflinching in her view that the rumors are true. She forbids her strong-willed eldest daughter Avery (Renea S. Brown) from seeing Johnny. Avery’s sister Violet (Raven Lorraine) tries to convince Avery to be skeptical about trusting Johnny. What if anything is he hiding? Violet’s friend Ruthie (Madison Norwood) is more welcoming of Johnny than Violet and obviously so. But as the play goes on, we discover each woman also harbors something buried and that their connections to Johnny and one another create an interconnected web, leaving the audience to tear fact from fiction.
Each of these performers gives a master class in portraying complex characters, no doubt the result of sure direction by Autumn Angelettie. One by one each takes a spotlight turn spinning a strand of this spider web of a story. Fatima Quander as Mama commands each of her scenes with jaw-dropping, fear-inducing certitude. Yet she allows her pain to leak through. Renea S. Brown’s metamorphosis as Avery is simply staggering. Isaiah Q. Reed as Johnny is physically nuanced and believable as he exposes different sides of himself to Avery, Violet, Ruthie, and Mama. Raven Lorraine as Violet is expressive and dynamic. She speaks volumes through her eyes and facial expressions, and also delivers the humor the show needs to avoid being unrelentingly chilling. It’s impossible not to cheer for her. And Madison Norwood’s Ruthie believably conveys youthful yearning complicated by people-pleasing earnestness. Indeed, this play is really an actors showcase. Each delivers!
The creative team has created the perfect complement to this frightening story. The design team amps up the supernatural with illusions that stupefy such as blackouts and spinning furniture and sounds that throb such as lightning strikes. The spare set allows prominence to the actors while conveying the multiple locations in the story.
But last and not least it’s playwright York Walker’s dialogue and story construction that blew me away. His debut play is quite accomplished and sophisticated. Indeed, the complex and multilayered Covenant is as if Jordan Peele, Nathanial Hawthorne, and August Wilson got together and wrote a play. It’s amazing. Don’t miss it.
Running Time: 95 minutes, no intermission.
EXTENDED: Covenant plays through November 10, 2024, presented by Theater Alliance performing at The Westerly, 340 Maple Dr SW, Washington, DC. Tickets are available online.
The program for Covenant is here.
COVID Safety: Masks are optional.
Covenant
By York Walker
Directed by Autumn Angelettie
CAST
Renea S. Brown: Avery
Raven Lorraine: Violet
Madison Norwood: Ruthie
Fatima Quander: Mama
Isaiah Q. Reed: Johnny
Jordan Taylor: Understudy
CREATIVE TEAM
Gisela Estrada: Scenic Design
Logan Benson & Rakell Foye: Costume Design
David Lamont Wilson: Sound Design
Colin K. Bills: Lighting Design
Trinity Joseph: Assistant Lighting Design
Ryan Phillips: Illusions Consultant
Justin Nepomuceno: Props Associate
PRODUCTION TEAM
Stage Manager: Regina Vitale
Assistant Stage Manager: Kelsey Jenkins
SEE ALSO:
Theater Alliance announces The Westerly as temporary venue for 2024/25 season (news story, October 2, 2024)