You’ve never seen family drama like Kabongo family drama. And you’ve never experienced a show with as many twists and turns and punches to the gut as Wake.
The play follows the Kabongo family – most closely, prodigal daughter Miriam (Déjah Dixon-Green) – coming together for the funeral of the family patriarch. Miriam and her sisters Esther (Yvonne Addai) and Ruth (Gloria Mampuya) all have their secrets, and so does their mother Jackie (Warona Setshwaelo).
What occurs leading up the the funeral is glorious and heart-wrenching; riotously funny and emotionally devastating. The Kabongos have to reckon with all their family secrets coming to light, and the fireworks that come with them.
Wake is written by playwright Rachel Mutombo, and it is the first show commissioned through Persephone Theatre’s IBPOC New Play Development program.
If it ever existed, there should never again be a doubt in anyone’s mind that we should be programming more stories by and featuring Black artists and, specifically, Black female artists. Mutombo’s play is a gripping piece of family drama, amplified through the magnifying glass of culture clash but never losing a universal realness that will leave you clenching the arms of your seat.
There’s something about Mutombo’s writing that feels painfully authentic. Credit a great ensemble for bringing it to life (even if the beginning felt a little stilted before the show hits its stride), but the dialogue between characters is sharp and biting and all too real for anyone who has ever witnessed or been in a fight among family.
The twists are also handled so magnificently. Once we reach the middle of the first act, Mutombo throws emotional haymaker after haymaker that all land with visceral weight. Put simply – if you can get the whole audience gasping and shrieking with every single surprise you spring on them, you’re doing something right.
We simply can’t go further without lauding the cast. The whole ensemble was excellent, but the dynamic between Miriam and her mother was so brilliantly uncomfortable and builds to a climax so spectacular I refuse to write anything that could even suggest a spoiler.
Dixon-Green is masterful as Miriam, fighting personal battles and making herself small to make space for her mother. Dixon-Green’s steady evolution through the show is spellbinding, and it almost makes you forget you’re watching a piece of fiction.
And Setshwaelo as Mama Jackie is just impossibly good. Stern, striking, imperious in her demeanor and uncompromising in her words and actions, Setshwaelo gives life and depth to Jackie that will keep you entranced from start to finish.
I don’t think I’ve ever said a show is perfect, and however much Wake is a great new play it has a few pimples. The show feels a bit bloated – as in, too long. A 70-minute first act and a 60-minute second act both felt like there was room to trim. Even good things can overstay their welcome a bit, and that’s how it felt with the hilarious comedic relief that caps the first act and kicks off the second. The core messages of the show, the sacrifices we make for family and the difficult choice to put yourself first, got a little muddled as the show stretched out. Thankfully, the dialogue was overall too snappy to let the show drag, but it could have been more streamlined.
And while the overall design of the set was really lovely, capturing the feel of a 90s-era home that has never changed over the decades, the whole thing almost felt too big. Vulnerable moments and close conversations occasionally got swallowed up when performers were up high at the back of the stage, and actors a little too often gave their backs to the audience.
But what Mutombo – and the cast and crew of Persephone Theatre – have done is created a piece of beautifully human theatre. The connections between characters are undeniable, the threads are almost all tied off by the end, and the final scene will make your jaw drop.
This might be the first play in the IBPOC development program, but thank goodness it’s not the last. Mutombo’s Wake is sheer brilliance, capturing the near-universal tension of choosing for your family versus choosing for yourself. It’s a play that features amazing Black artists, centres a fascinating immigrant experience story, and belongs in the Canadian theatre canon for years to come.
