The Belfry Theatre reopened in November with its production of Serving Elizabeth by African-Canadian playwright Marcia Johnson, premiered at the Stratford Festival. It was wonderful to be back in the Belfry’s beautiful theatre space again after such a long time. And the play, directed by Nigel Shawn Williams, offered some real charm in its story of a fictional encounter between Princess Elizabeth and a Kenyan chef hired to feed her and her entourage during a visit in 1954. As the play ends, we hear that her father, King George VI, has died and that she will soon be crowned Queen of England and the British Commonwealth. Local actor Amanda Lisman brings her usual warm presence to this role, along with a role set in the present as a film producer that contrasts nicely with her rendition of the young princess. The ensemble cast offers solid portrayals of the chef, Mercy (Lucinda Davis), her daughter Faith (Sia Foryoh), a chauffeur love interest for Faith, Montague (Nathan D. Simmons) and royal etiquette coach Talbot (Ryan Hollyman). The play offers some strong scenes, both past and present, as the characters wrestle with race issues in the historic past, in particular Kenya’s struggle for liberation from the British Empire, alongside a parallel storyline of a film about the events in Kenya and the production team working on the show. Both storylines culminate in what I would characterize as fantasy scenes in which Black characters read the riot act to White ones, schooling them on their ignorance and blindness around race issues. While these scenes are pleasant to watch, and offer audiences the thrill of alternate reality, they do not succeed as good drama. There is no way on earth that Princess Elizabeth would sit quietly to be berated by her Kenyan cook about her lack of knowledge of Kenya’s liberation struggle. And in the present timeline, why would a powerful and successful screenwriter listen to an unpaid African-British intern castigate him for his ignorance? These scenes are wish fulfilment exercises that fail to meet the bar as believable drama. I prefer my political drama to be more biting than this play offers. That said, the play does offer a majority Black cast, which is a rare thing, too rare, and a level of onstage diversity much needed in Victoria.

In contrast, I caught the final performance of Until the Flood in December. This was a co-production between Langham Court Theatre, Bema Productions and Attitude Theatre. The documentary theatre play by African-American playwright Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Tony Cain, examines the after effects of the Michael Brown police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. Interestingly, this play was originally performed by the playwright as a one-woman show, while the Victoria co-production features a full cast of eight portraying the various characters interviewed by Orlandersmith. I would be drawn to see the one-person version of the play, for the acting challenge alone, even though the Victoria cast does a very good job in portraying Black and White characters with divergent opinions on the killing. Rosemary Jeffery has never been better than in her role here as an elderly retired school teacher. And the other younger African-Canadian actors do very effective work, in particular Dani Parkinson who brings a lot of charisma onstage and promises to be a young actor to watch. Ultimately, I was moved to tears by the blatant injustices shown in the play, as seen in the Black Lives Matter movement and protests in response. The play ended with a powerful video featuring hundreds of names of African-American young people killed by police, superimposed on Michael Brown’s face and accompanied by Nina Simone singing George Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity”. I prefer my political theatre with a sharper edge, and this play certainly delivered this, along with another majority Black cast, something I can’t recall seeing before on stage here. Long overdue.