THE HANGOVER REPORT – York Walker’s COVENANT brings genuine Southern gothic horror to the New York stage

Jade Payton, Crystal Dickinson, Ashley N. Hildreth, and Lark White in Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of “Covenant” by York Walker at the Black Box Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre in Manhattan (photo by Joan Marcus).

Currently enjoying an extended run at the Black Box Theatre at the Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre is Roundabout Theatre Company’s world premiere production of York Walker’s Covenant, which I was able to catch up with this past weekend. Set in 1930s Georgia, the Southern gothic play depicts the horrific turn of events triggered by the homecoming of a bluesman to his hometown. In short, Covenant is a largely successful attempt at bringing the genre of horror to live performance — in my estimation a far more satisfying effort than Levi Holloway’s Grey House, which had a short run on Broadway earlier this season.

In Covenant, Walker weaves together elements such as the legend of Robert Johnson — a musician who allegedly sold his soul to the Devil to become a blues star — and Stephen King’s Carrie, arriving at a striking concoction that makes for compulsive viewing. Deeply held secrets play a big role in the piece, which Walker brilliantly manifests through a series of haunting monologues delivered by each of the primary characters. Aside from being genuinely unsettling, they also provide much needed texture and insight into the characters, thereby bringing dimension to the work’s otherwise surface level thrills (of which there are many). That being said, Covenant is not a flawless play — Walker’s feminist agenda almost gets lost in playwright’s delicious spin on the classic gothic ghost story, and there’s a twist towards the end that almost derails the work. Nevertheless, it’s a notable New York playwriting debut all around.

The Roundabout production features a quintet of tightly wound, full throttle performances — in particular, Lark White is a sensational standout — that embrace and lean in on the play’s melodramatic trappings, boldly navigating Walker’s tightrope walk between reality and imagination. Director Tiffany Nichole Greene’s pungent staging — which makes great use of the entirety of Roundabout’s cozy Black Box Theatre and benefits from menacing underscoring and a lighting design that’s unafraid to shroud audiences in darkness — is rife with stifling atmosphere and sustained tension.

RECOMMENDED

COVENANT
Off-Broadway, Play
Roundabout Theatre Company
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through December 17

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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