Suzan-Lori Parks takes us into the fevered domestic life of a fragmented family
The Book of Grace, originally written by Suzan-Lori Parks in 2009 and revised in 2011, receives a new audience at Arcola Theatre this May. The play’s director, Femi Elufowoju jr, breathes new life into this text, honouring its rewrite whilst infusing it with the “boundaries and limitations we set ourselves” as U.K. spectators. Having worked with Suzan-Lori Parks herself, Elufowoju jr takes this companion piece to Park’s canonical Topdog/Underdog and absolutely runs with it. The seething tensions is palpable, the performances breath-taking, and the lighting and set design truly remarkable.
Vet is a U.S border patrol officer. Obsessed with the wall he is irreverently proud to guard, Vet oozes a constant, bubbling rage. Played with phenomenal skill by Peter De Jersey, Vet mandates oppressive control over anyone within his domestic reach. When Vet feels his control begin to slip, his maddening temper takes over, while Jersey’s impeccable performance reveals the veiled panic that guides his fury.
The play commences with the arrival of Vet’s estranged son, Buddy. Buddy has braved meeting his dad again after fifteen years of separation at the behest of Vet’s wife, Grace. Consistently described by Vet as a troublemaker, Buddy seems to only turn into trouble when Vet insists that that is all he will ever be. Buddy, performed by Daniel Francis-Swaby, has inherited some of Vet’s fury, though it manifests in an entirely different way. Francis-Swaby’s portrayal of the complicated Buddy is flawless, expertly depicting an angry adult with an immense degree of trauma bottled within, that leaves him reminiscent of a young child in his dad’s home.
The beating heart of the play is, of course, Grace. Played by Ellena Vincent, Grace’s unwavering optimism fuels her. Her consistently sunny disposition could easily read as a facet of obliviousness, a weakness that has left her in the home of a monster. However, Vincent’s careful performance demonstrates Grace’s strength within her optimism, and her acute awareness of her circumstances. Grace needs to maintain hope in order to survive. Her attempts to bridge the gap between father and son, no matter how hopeless it appears to be, clearly resonate with the seemingly morose attempt to unite a divided country. Ellena Vincent carries the core of this play with astonishing agility, gifting us a multi-faceted Grace that is imbued with many, many layers of lived experience that exceed her fictional years on this earth.
In addition to the prodigious performances by the cast, The Book of Grace boasts outstanding lighting and stage design. David Howe’s work as the show’s lighting designer was a feat to witness; afternoon light streaming through window slats, spotlights that emerge slowly and drink us in, and a glowing red ember of fear leave this show’s lighting delightfully designed. This, coupled by wise set design by William Fricker and Rae Smith, invoke a feeling of the walls closing in on us, as they certainly seem to be on the characters of this gut-wrenching, mind-bending play.