It’s not every day that Claire and Janae’s mother comes to visit.
But, when she does, the pushy and snooty Celeste (Marcelle Gover) is bound to cause problems, which she does in high-comedic fashion in The High Priestess of Dark Alley.
Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, Priestess explores a host of taboos—from the clashes between light-skinned and dark-skinned blacks to the often-fragile relationships between mothers and daughters.
At the center of the storm is Celeste, who makes an unannounced visit to her daughters’ home for Claire’s birthday.
Long separated from her philandering husband, Claire (Mari White) is trying hard to move on with her life, finding a new church and a potential new love in handyman/minister, Franklin, (Zeb Hollins III) who volunteers to fix her leaky roof.
Celeste has other plans for Claire, namely that she return to her husband, Charles (Michael Chenevert). To Claire, Charles is perfect—wealthy and light-skinned, a part of her Creole caste.
The first half of the play revolves around the drama and comedy caused by Celeste’s visit and her interaction with her daughters’ love interests, both of whom are dark-skinned and working class.
At one point, Celeste, given the nickname “The Priestess” by Janae’s boyfriend, Sweet, (Nicoye Banks) boldly states that Katrina, “gave the city a bath that was long overdue,” a reference to the storm’s destruction of poor black neighborhoods.
The cast’s reaction to her declaration draws chuckles from the audience and sets the tone of Priestess, which flies along at breakneck pace.
Unbeknownst to Celeste, Claire harbors a deadly secret. And it is that secret that causes the end of her marriage to Charles (Michael Chenevert). It also makes her resist Franklin’s calm sweetness.
The cast, particularly Banks and Aura Vence, who plays party girl Janae with aplomb, handles the weighty material with ease, drawing outright laughs and applause from the nearly packed house.
White deftly handles Claire’s lines, playing straight woman to both Vence and Gover. And her monologues are at times heartbreaking, as she tries to make sense of her life.
In the second half, Priestess slows down slightly. The introduction of Claire’s secret spells the end of the some of the play’s rapid-fire fun.
Overall, though, Priestess is sprightly romp.
■ Jeri Young can be reached at 727-7307 or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
■ The High Priestess of Dark Alley will be performed at 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday in The MainStage Theatre, Wake Forest University. Tickets, $37, are available at Benton Convention Center.