jacob sampson photo by stoo metz.
January 25th, 2019, was the first time that a female African Nova Scotian playwright had her work premiere on the Fountain Hall stage of Neptune Theatre in Halifax. There is no one more worthy of this historic milestone than the extraordinary Shauntay Grant, and her play The Bridge plays there until February 10th, coinciding with African Heritage Month. But, at the same time, in a province where African Nova Scotians have lived since the beginning of the 17th Century, and at a theatre that was founded in 1963 this historic day is obviously decades overdue. The Bridge already feels like it should be a classic of the Canadian theatre canon, so it does feel apt that this be the play to mark a significant step forward for Neptune Theatre and Haligonian Theatre in general.
The Bridge is at Neptune Theatre in Co-Production with Halifax’s 2b Theatre, and in association with Toronto’s Obsidian Theatre. It is directed by 2b’s Co-Artistic Director Anthony Black. The story is set in a rural African Nova Scotian community and centres on two brothers, John Solomon (played by Jacob Sampson) and Eli (played by Jim Codrington), who have been torn apart by a devastating secret for over twenty years. When his son, Samuel (played by Daniel Ellis), arrives home from Toronto for a funeral John is suddenly confronted with all the ghosts from his past, and he is forced to contend with the anger, bitterness, guilt, shame, and sorrow he has been suppressing for two decades.
This story, at its root, is both ancient and familiar. The way Shauntay Grant gives her story its depth, complexity, and specificity is through the other elements that are woven and layered beautifully and poetically through John and Eli’s relationship. One of these is the centrality of the Church, and the continual interludes of gospel music that permeate the world of the play. On this issue the brothers are, once again, divided. Eli is the Reverend of the Community Church, while John sees religion as preaching hypocrisy and falsehoods. What is especially beautiful about this dichotomy is that Grant doesn’t hold either brother up as being in the right. Both are complex and contradictory, both sometimes behave lovingly and other times are cruel. Both John and Eli are imperfect humans, and that’s what makes this play resonate so strongly. “There Is A Balm in Gilead,” a traditional African American spiritual, is repeatedly sung by various characters throughout the play. It suggests the existence of a panacea, but requires a leap of faith that John struggles to make. There is also a deep connection to the Song of Solomon, a deeply sensual story in the Bible that doesn’t have any one obvious meaning, but can be interpreted in a multitude of ways.
The role of the Church in this story also enriches the communal elements Grant weaves into the play. This particular African Nova Scotian community comes to vivid life through the three Choristers (played by Murleta Williams, Charla Williams and Chiamaka G. Ugwu), they are ever present, watching and judging John and Eli, drawing their own conclusions from bits of truth and gossip and reminding us that this story doesn’t exist in isolation. The Choristers also represent a bridge of sorts between the living and the dead. They give us further insights into this community by walking through the graveyard and providing us with quick anecdotes about the lives and personalities of the deceased. This beautifully enriches our understanding of this town and how it moves within Eli and John, and how they move within it. The theme of bridging the literal world and the spirit world is multifaceted in Grant’s work, and embodied even further in Anna (played by Sophia Walker), the deceased mother of Samuel and wife of John. There is an additional layer that bridges the present and the past. We see pieces of Anna and John’s complex relationship while she is alive, but we also see her as a guiding force from beyond the grave, adamant to crack open John’s repressed emotions. The intricate way this story is woven is unique and artful, and its layers create a resonant and powerfully emotional experience.
The performances from this cast are uniformly superb. Williams, Ugwu and Williams bring humour and beautiful harmony to lift the story in just the right moments. Each Chorister has her own distinct identity and they’re so captivating you’re left wishing to hear more of their stories. Daniel Ellis gives a beautiful performance as a young man seeking a part of his identity, while still wanting desperately to connect to a challenging father. His dynamic with Sampson’s John when they are making music together, and when we flash back to Samuel’s childhood, are delightful, but fragile. Jim Codrington’s Eli could be portrayed as a villain in another story told a different way, but there is so much power in the fact that Codrington gives us such a rich and complex portrait to reflect on instead. Sophia Walker’s Anna is so powerfully vulnerable, she walks with her heart wide open and she drives many of the play’s most heartbreaking moments. Jacob Sampson’s portrayal of of John Solomon is breathtaking, poignant, deeply nuanced, and harrowing. It is a truly exceptional performance.
In the same way that Grant has deeply layered the way she tells this story, so is Rachel Forbes’ set layering elements as well. There is a large bridge that overlooks three smaller overlapping spaces, that of a home, the Church, and the graveyard. The graveyard is represented by parts of the stage covered in dirt and it links the home, the church, and the bridge. Director Anthony Black adds the layers of movement, ensuring that all the transitions between past, present, reality and spirit world, remain clear and the pacing of the characters’ dramatic emotional arcs build seamlessly toward the play’s crescendo. It may take a bit of time for audience members to establish the characters’ relationships with one another at the very beginning of the play, but I didn’t find this detracted at all from my enjoyment of it. At the same time, I think this is a play that one could attend multiple times and continually see new elements, make new realizations, form deeper understandings, and find new insights. It is like Shakespeare in that way, there is so much there to be discovered.
The Bridge is one of the most exciting new Nova Scotian works I have ever seen. I hope it travels across the country and to audiences around the world. On January 25th Neptune marked a milestone with this play, and milestones are often joyful and exciting, but I hope that very soon there will be another premiere of a play by an African Nova Scotian woman in Fountain Hall, and then another, and another, and another.… I’m hopeful The Bridge will inspire many girls and women of colour to write plays; let’s make sure the doors are open for them when they do.
The Bridge is produced in Co-Production between 2b Theatre and Neptune Theatre in Association with Obsidian Theatre. It opened January 25th, 2019, at Neptune Theatre’s Fountain Hall (1593 Argyle Street, Halifax), and it runs until February 10th. Shows are at 7:30pm Tuesday to Sunday and 2:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets range in price from $30.00 to $76.00. For tickets please visit this website or call 902.429.7070 (1.800.565.7345) or visit the Box Office at 1593 Argyle Street.
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