AMERICAN THEATRE: York Walker’s Covenant, a play set in a Georgia town in the 1930s, is at last making its way home to the South after premiering at NYC’s Roundabout in 2023 and D.C.’s Theater Alliance in 2024, with nearly concurrent productions at Charleston’s PURE Theatre in its Southeast premiere (which ran Oct. 2-25) and Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre (through Nov. 9). “It was always important to me that the rhythms, relationships, and the world of the play felt authentic,” said the Chicago-born playwright. “To have two Southern productions around the same time is incredibly exciting.”
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Plays that have a deep connection to music while not being a musical are beautiful when crafted well I find, which makes hearing about these projects even more exciting. When first looking over this article, I thought that the publicity still of the guitarist sitting on the tree was in the theater production itself (which itself would be quite impressive productive), but nonetheless made me hope for a similar level of detail and immersion in the design that will come to life on stage. Reading about these plays also makes me wonder how often good art passes us by simply because it isn’t as widely known, recognized, or produced. This happens for a variety of reasons, but for plays such as this that may deal with historical topics that may bring more discomfort to audiences despite bearing important messages, do producers tend to shy away from these kinds of plays? Or is simply that artistic directors are the ones who have to champion these works to life?
I always loved Sinners, so seeing a play with the same concept come to fruition would be absolutely amazing. I really surprised that it wasn't a musical but I think plays are just fine. I think the popularity that Sinners received when it was in movie theaters just goes to show the potential that this play could have. I also really just love the messaging that these two are and have delved into. Unfortunately there was a strange amount of backlash with Sinners, and many people believed it to be a "white-hate" movie which is completely insane, considering what the whole movie was intending to be. Obviously the vampires aren't real but the experiences and the metaphors are entirely truly connected to real world events and figures, and calling it "white-hate" was just denying history and what truly happened, anyway super excited to see this show if it manages to get off the ground.
As a designer, looking at the different interpretations of this play on stage and how the designers have made changes are absolutely fascinating. Both are focusing on different aspects, though PURE certainly goes for that more immersive touch when it comes to the design and how the grove has that expansive look over the entire stage. Even with the one picture I am seeing, the replica of the ivy and the ground below look as if they are practically climbing up the actors legs as if they are trying to pull him back into the earth itself. WHile of course this could just be a design choice of making the set ultra-realistic, I could also see this being used to represent the repeating cycle that is generational trauma, specifically within the setting of a southern church. This even reads throughout the directors comments, specifically about that of the attempt to escape from the small rural town.
I really dig blues-art set in the south around the turn of the century. That’s very specific but movies like Sinners, O Brother Where Art Thou, and Matewan. I don’t think we need to relate every black southern story to Sinners but I guess it’s current and increasingly monolithic place in our culture makes it an easy, if not entirely apt, point of comparison. Robert Johnson is a famous figure both in the blues and in American mythology in general. His song Crossroads is a certified classic and has been covered hundreds of times, becoming a rock staple after guitarists like Eric Clapton picked it up. Johnson’s story is mirrored in the Coen Brother’s film O Brother Where Art Thou in which a young black man sells his soul so the devil teaches him to “play this here guitar real good”. I think the Devil in southern American mythology is fascinating as a malevolent trickster god who leads those with avarice astray. All I can say is that I hope this play will be compared and discussed in conjunction with more than just Sinners and its message will be measured in the context of centuries of black southern mythology and folklore. Certainly the pontifications at the end of this article lead me to believe this has a chance at being true.
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