\n<\/p>\n
Over 75 minutes, these women run through a 17-part liturgy accompanied by a pianist (Darnell White) and singer (S T A R R Busby, whose resonant voice leads the joyous gospel numbers). At one corner of this church stands a partially obscured forest. A silent spirit in white occasionally dances out from this surreal fantasy space (scenic design by dots), flitting around in fluid swells of movement. This is the Ancestor (Satori Folkes-Stone, magnetic), who also performs offstage rituals as part of the service. Another young woman, called Free (a less graceful Amara Granderson), is the one wondering whether this is a church, and if she even belongs here.<\/p>\n
Like \u201cWhat to Send Up When It Goes Down,<\/a>\u201d by Aleshea Harris, \u201c(pray),\u201d which douglas has nimbly written, choreographed and directed, is theater that demands the audience step into a shared experience of Blackness<\/a>. In these experimental works, theater begins and ends in community.<\/p>\n Thus, douglas\u2019s script aims to make faith more accessible via coy translations: \u201cghost\u201d becomes \u201cmost,\u201d for example, and \u201challelujah\u201d is \u201cyahleloo.\u201d The similar sounding words with the music (composed by Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis) trick the ear into fluency, so that a prayer that says \u201cO, abundance! May I meet you. May I know you,\u201d feels as true and traditional as, say, the Apostles\u2019 Creed.<\/p>\n The Sisters deliver improvised gossip and judgmental comments, sometimes, hilariously, at the audience\u2019s expense. The cohesiveness of their vocals and group movements (a stunning m\u00e9lange of styles, including hip-hop and Afro-Cuban) recalls the deft cast of performers in Ars Nova\u2019s 2022 hit by Heather Christian, \u201cOratorio for Living Things.<\/a>\u201d Each Sister sings with her own textured affect, so the psalms they perform feel creased, pleated or smoothed over like fabric. Tina Fabrique\u2019s elastic bellows electrify \u201cA Song (For to Ease My Troubled Mind).\u201d Another Sister Anna (Ariel Kayla Blackwood) spits Noname lyrics atop a muscular beat. (Mikaal Sulaiman\u2019s ethereal sound design lifts the voices higher.)<\/p>\n A whole syllabus of thinkers and artists have inspired (and are referenced in) douglas\u2019s script, including the poets Tyehimba Jess and Raych Jackson. But douglas\u2019s writing sometimes pales in comparison, lacking the same polish and panache. And there are some missed notes: \u201c(pray)\u201d feels more anchored within the distant and recent past, lacking firmer context in the present, and despite the production\u2019s inclusive language around gender, queerness is only occasionally alluded to. The history of race-based attacks on Black churches, like the 1963 Birmingham bombing and the 2015 Charleston shooting, is artfully hinted at with the haunting sound of a helicopter overhead, but feels like a footnote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n