"Covenant"
Detroit Repertory Theatre
Detroit, Mich.
May 24, 2025
What are your deepest, darkest secrets and desires? What would you do to keep or achieve them?
These are the questions explored in York Walker’s “Covenant,” playing now until July 6 at Detroit Repertory Theatre. The Faustian thriller, directed by Will Bryson, takes audience members on a wild ride full of passion, betrayal and an ending you don’t see coming.
In the play, set in 1930s Georgia, we meet a small cast of characters trying to survive in a world where not adhering to the norm could have you swinging from a tree. Ruthie is the best friend of Violet, the younger sister of Avery, who is loved by Johnny. Avery's and Violet’s mother “Mama” is an angry religious zealot, a controlling woman with never a kind word for her daughters.
The story begins with Johnny’s return. After two years away, Johnny comes home as a successful blues musician, a surprise to all with much speculation that he must have sold his soul to the devil. Avery is desperate to escape her mother and stifling small town, and Johnny is her ticket out. She accepts his marriage proposal and runs away with him on tour, returning later as a completely changed woman. Ruthie – a non-church-going heathen in Mama’s eyes – is jealous of the couple, which complicates matters for Violet, who is protective of her sister. As the story moves forward, characters give eerie monologues revealing their darkest secrets. Nothing is what it seems, and we become more and more engrossed in the mystery.
The story is extreme but manages to be funny, intriguing and haunting at the same time. It is unlike any play I’ve experienced before, and I loved it.
The relatively simple set consists of a sloped, wood-paneled backdrop adorned with crosses that serves as both the church and family home. Like the characters themselves, it too holds surprises, coming alive to amplify thrilling moments that left me chilled. A sliding wooden fence takes the characters to their outside locations.
Kate McClaine gives a standout performance as Mama. Her Mama is sharp-tongued and increasingly terrifying, taking it upon herself to instill the fear of God through the fear of her, not unlike the mother in Stephen King’s “Carrie.”
As Violet, Jarquita Evans is endearingly cheeky but also bitter with a deep-rooted anger for her life circumstances and apparent abandonment from God. Jesse Boyd-Williams’ Johnny is charming and laid back. He has finally come into his own after a childhood of stuttering and bullying, just trying to make a life for himself and the woman he loves.
Kayla Von’s Avery is perhaps the most mysterious of them all, a seemingly sweet young woman searching for freedom to be herself, who is also not who she seems. As Ruthie, X’ydee Alexander has the first and final says of the show. Her relatively quiet performance both sets up and destroys the play’s structure and expectations, leading to a terrific surprise ending.
While I wouldn’t describe it as full-on horror, “Covenant” is a play for those who enjoy a mystery and a good adrenaline rush. I left pondering the secrets I’d learned, trying to retroactively put together the pieces that led to an ending I didn’t expect. I’m not entirely sure I’ve succeeded in that mission; I think I’ll go see it again.
