Is God Is
Royal Court Theatre
 

ALESHEA Harris’s award winning play opened to rave reviews in New York in 2018 and now explodes on to the stage at the Royal Court with Ola Ince’s taut, visceral production.

Black twin sisters Racine and Anaia emerge from nowhere, scarred and on a mission to avenge their mother who as far as they are concerned has risen from the dead and understandably wants revenge on her former husband.

Their blood-spattered quest takes them to the mountains of California in an attempt to trace their father, now living a respectable middle-class married life with a disenchanted wife and a new set of twins.

Employing the language of black American pop culture and the absurd violence of a Scooby Doo cartoon crossed with a Jacobean revenge drama, the play superficially appears to be all surface, but the themes run far deeper.

With the introduction of their mother, aka God, looking like a seared Buddha and her harrowing account of their deformities, we gain the sense of something far more profound, something more akin to a Greek tragedy or a fable from the Old Testament.

The Tarantino-style blend of humour and violence that accompanies their allegorical-style journey maintains a buzz in the audience and leaves you wondering whether to laugh or be appalled by each new death and the satisfyingly hellish conclusion.

Tamara Lawrance as Racine and Adelayo Adedayo as Anaia are the modern epitome of the Furies, attitude-ridden, morally ambiguous and set on vengeance, but their loyalty and reliance on each other makes them very human.

The rest of the cast are likewise excellent in creating roles that in isolation would be laughable caricatures but within the context of the play are strong elements in a skilfully woven, amoral parable for the 21st century.

Even the layout of Harris’s text is innovative with stage directions and dialogue merged, changes of font size and text direction as well as the use of epigrammatic scene titles. This dynamic style is supported by Chloe Lamford’s economic stage design merging cartoon-like sets with real flames.

The casual brutality and amusingly blunt dialogue might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it had a standing ovation from the packed audience in London and deserves to be seen.

Runs until 23rd October, box office: royalcourttheatre.com.