Finding redemption: Leo Wringer (Eli Gillard) and Clint Dyer (Josh Gillard). Picture credit: Richard Davenport
Play: Perseverance Drive
Theatre: Bush Theatre
Playwright: Robin Soans
Director: Madani Younis
Review by Natalie Gormally
Perseverance Drive is an absorbing play about a fragmented West Indian Pentecostal family, brought together by death and torn apart by conflicting attitudes towards faith.
Under the scorching sun in Barbados, the Gillard family gather for their mother Grace’s funeral. The family divisions are obvious from the start. Widower, father and Pentecostal pastor Eli (an impressive Leo Wringer) is already selling the family home.
His sons, the eldest Nathan (a formidable Derek Ezenagu) and youngest Zek (Kolade Agboke) are ministers in opposing factions of the church, having previously clashed over Nathan’s decision not to marry Zek and his sharp-tongued divorced wife Joylene (an amiable Akiya Henry) in his church. Uninvited third brother Joshua (played by the delectable Clint Dyer) is the black sheep of the family, exiled for his homosexuality.
The imposing Bishop Marvin (a credible Ray Shell) and his gentle son Errol (the charming Lloyd Everitt), who has discarded his own architectural dreams to follow in his father’s footsteps, are present to lead prayers and sing hymns when the tension in the family becomes too much to bear.
In this cauldron of brewing controversy, ego and rivalry, the funeral provides an opportunity for emotions to erupt, including an embarrassing downward spiral during a battle over the sermon. Only non-believer Joshua seems considerate and respectful in the situation.
Four years later, holed up in a neglected flat in London, Eli is old, ill and becoming frailer by the day. His only regular visitor and carer – despite his initial reluctance – is Joshua.
Eli’s religious sons appear to be too busy with their respective congregations to demonstrate the love that they preach. Instead, Eli and Joshua slowly bond, building gradually towards a heart-warming and beautiful reconciliation.
It isn’t hard to predict the play’s direction and conclusion as the outcast turns out to be the most generous of the sons. However, playwright Robin Soans takes a liberal and balanced perspective, displaying the positives faith can bring to a person’s life, such as being in fellowship through prayer and music, while also exposing the failings of an institution prone to exclusivity, judgement and intolerance, banishing those who don’t fit their mould.
Wringer and Dyer’s scenes, particularly in the second half, are powerful and emotional. Wringer portrays Eli’s transition from a belligerent father to a frail man who surrenders to love and resolution, expertly. While Dyer pitches Josh’s righteousness just right, adding a touch of humour. Frances Ashman also delivers a strong performance as Nathan’s neglected wife Ruth, who is forced to choose between art and faith, and later on love.
Director Madani Younis’s production comes to life in the second act where the scenes are more intimate, while Jaimie Todd’s beautifully crafted and culturally relevant set design makes good use of space, particularly with an inventive transition to the church scene.
Perseverance Drive plays out in its own time and stays on safe ground, but it is nevertheless an engrossing production with impressive performances and a message of hope.
Perseverance Drive is at the Bush Theatre until 16 August 2014.