Stage Review - Covenant (ArtsWest)

Stage Review - Covenant
Presented By: ArtsWest - Seattle, WA
Show Run: February 06 - March 02, 2025
Date Reviewed: Thursday, February 06, 2025 (Opening Night)
Run Time: 90 minutes (no intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

Is it really true that everyone has a secret? If we’re to believe York Walker, writer of the play currently on stage at ArtsWest, Covenant, running through March 2 in West Seattle, the answer to that question is an unmitigated yes. From Walker’s point of view, it’s not just the secrets that we keep that end up being self-destructive and causing collateral damage to those that we love, but it’s in the keeping of those secrets that cause others to come to their own conclusions about our behaviors and intentions leading to gossip, innuendo, and the jumping to of more than just the odd conclusion. It is in this context that the story of Covenant is told, set in a small Georgia town in 1936, and based on, or more likely inspired by, the legend of Robert Johnson. The production, directed by Nicholas Japaul Bernard is, quite frankly, a beautifully designed and produced piece of theatre, a folksy, gothic, suspenseful play told by a cast of five that skillfully navigate their characters through the obstacles of hearsay and innuendo, and challenge the ideas of faith and science in the changing world of the early 20th Century.

Robert Johnson is a well-known blues singer and guitar player, and although he had a short career, he’s looked upon as a groundbreaker, a master of his genre. Because so little of his life, outside of his music, is known, a number of legends have sprung up around him, the most popular being that Johnson couldn’t “play a lick” on the guitar, and that he was just a lazy womanizer until he went to a particular Mississippi crossroads, where he seemingly traded his soul to the devil for the ability to play, and the rest is history. Covenant is loosely based on this story, to the extent that Johnny, around which much of the story revolves, begins the play by returning home after his sudden exodus two years earlier. Johnny’s first stop upon returning home is the local church, where he comes across Avery, an old friend that the audience quickly learns he has more than friendly feelings for. Avery is quick to point out that, like the legend of Robert Johnson, Johnny couldn’t play the guitar at all when he left, but he’s now returned a famous blues singer and musician. Word around town has been that a few people saw Johnny in the cemetery summoning the devil to make a deal for his soul the night he left two years prior, so of course word spread, and people jumped to conclusions. But Johnny is back, and he wants Avery to leave home and join him on tour. These rumors paint how Avery’s mother and sister Violet view Johnny, but there’s little holding her at home besides the sameness of her life, compared to the adventure that would await her with Johnny. As the two take off, these actions set into motion a series of events that test the new relationship between Johnny and Avery, as well as faith and trust of Avery’s family, her mother whose piety is as strong as anyone’s, her sister Violet, who may be willing to do just about anything herself to get her sister away from this devil of a man, and friend Ruthie, who is trying to find her own place within this family as an outsider.

There’s a poetry to the way this story is constructed. Among the primary narrative of Johnny and Avery, their relationship, the secret that some in the town feel that Johnny is hiding, are short stories, or allegories, told by each of the individual cast members. Each is told beautifully and ties into Trevor Cushman’s stunning lighting design. What Trevor has done with the lighting in Covenant is brilliant, and in fact the entire scenic design is wonderfully done. Benjamin and Jessica Radin’s set design feels rustic, built with weathered and distressed wood, the odd board missing or broken, and as a church or dining room accurately reflective. The lighting is generally on the darker side, but Trevor’s best work involves Johnny, first when the girls (sisters Avery and Violet, and friend Ruthie) are on the elevated platform that doubles as an alter in the church and the dining room in Avery’s house, praying, and seem to be taken over by some sort of spirit while the image of Johnny playing the guitar in darkness is on the floor part of the stage. The girls are illuminated in yellow, but their bodies are silhouetted, with the yellow as a highlight around them, like each is their own eclipse. Then, in keeping with the mystery of whether or not Johnny has some sort of pact with the devil or not, Trevor’s use of red lighting whenever the singer does certain things does not go unnoticed. For these stories, though, individually told by the cast, it’s simply one actor holding a lantern in front of them, telling their story. It’s haunting for sure, but it’s also something that really just draws the audience’s attention to that particular actor. It doesn’t hurt that each actor is an amazing storyteller, but more on that later. It feels like the actors are telling ghost stories, but it’s not long before it becomes apparent that these stories have to do with the characters and the some of the secrets that they are each keeping, which inform the main narrative, but also provide insight into the the motivations of the characters in the story.

These stories, the way they are delivered, and where they are placed in the landscape of the narrative, are excellent. But as good as they are, there is a lot to them, and while I know at a base level that they all fit, and that if I took all the information presented in each of the stories, they would all make sense in how they fit into the puzzle. But for my part, it’s taken a lot of time and effort to actually put those pieces together. I feel like I need to see the play again just to hear some of these again to make sure I didn’t miss anything, to make it all make more sense and increase my confidence that everything works. There’s also the last 10 minutes of the play, and while I don’t want to give anything away, I will say that the majority of the piece keeps the audience guessing about things related to faith or the supernatural, but in the last part of the play, York Walker seems to step away from that and not leave what transpires up to the imagination, not let the audience decide for themselves whether there’s a supernatural influence in the actions that occur, instead he spells it out. Covenant, for my money, is stronger when it keeps the audience guessing. There’s an art to ending a play, especially one that has so many layers as this one does, and if there is any weakness in this piece it is the end, in wrapping up that complexity.

The previous paragraph notwithstanding, I can’t say enough how beautiful of a piece of art the presentation of this show is, with full marks to Nicholas and his creative team, including Janelle Kimbrough with costume design, Madelyn Zandt in sound design, technical director Andrew Long, and intimacy/violence coordinator Jasmine Lomax. The cast that Nicholas has assembled for Covenant is brilliant as well. This is a heavy piece, there are a lot of dark subjects and things that are uncomfortable to experience as an audience member for sure. As Johnny, Donovan Mahannah turns in a flawless performance. Johnny is headstrong, he’s egocentric, confident, and also a bit forceful in taking what he wants, but at the same time quick to discard what holds him back. The audience is never sure whether he’s made that suspected deal with the devil, and the way Donovan plays him, it’s kept in doubt throughout. There is a softer side to the character as well, and Donovan portrays that just as well, but his best work is during his background story, the one where he holds his lantern up and talks about one peculiar interaction with his brother. It’s an emotional scene, and shows off Donovan’s ability, and his versatility. The character of Avery is also a challenging one, a girl who is resigned and content at first, then smitten at the opportunity to leave home, and then broken by the actions that follow. Simone Alene is a wonderful Avery, able to manage each of her character’s emotional phases, while some of her best work is when she doesn’t even say a word. Sister Violet, played by Deja Culver, is a more straightforward character, she says what she thinks, but she’s also pulled between her mother’s righteousness and her belief in the progress of a changing world. Some of Deja’s best scenes, though, are with Kaila Towers, who plays friend Ruthie. The two (Violet and Ruthie) can be found sneaking moonshine on the church steps, or spending time together at Violet’s house, where Ruthie joins them for dinner. Avery and Ruthie’s mother, “Mama”, played by Felicia V. Loud, rounds out the cast, and provides a good deal of the emotion, and humor, of the play, her character’s faith is unwavering, even to a fault, and her reluctance to give into a changing world is matched only by Violet’s acceptance of it. There are plenty of conflicts at their house, but these arguments are at the heart of the debate that challenges the idea of faith as Mama knows it.

Covenant is a multi-layered story that asks us to consider what we really know about each other, the secrets that folks keep versus those that we think they’re keeping, and the mistakes we make between that two that lead to gossip and innuendo, and inform our attitudes toward them. The play also asks us to consider our faith, and how we can reconcile that with the behavior of others amid those preconceived notions based on the secrets we assume they are keeping. The ArtsWest production is a beautifully designed and produced piece of theatre from a creative team and cast under the direction of Nicholas Japaul Bernard that immerses the audience in the hard life of 1930s Georgia where this folksy, gothic, and suspenseful tale takes place that mixes secrecy, superstition, gossip, and heartbreak.

Covenant runs on stage at ArtsWest in West Seattle through March 2. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.artswest.org/.

Photo credit: John McLellan