“You’ll recognize the folly of family and the reality of relationships in Stratford’s new Canadian play ‘Get That Hope.’

The latest play to have its Stratford 2024 world premiere is “Get That Hope” based on playwright Andrea Scott’s experiences with that fractious group of people we call family. It’s a funny, engaging and revealing story of a family being torn apart just as their neighbourhood of Little Jamaica is being torn asunder by the incessant sound of jackhammers.

Inspired by Stratford’s 2018 production of Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “Get That Hope” takes place in a crowded apartment where construction work rumbles through the walls. Family patriarch and retired factory worker Richard Whyte (Conrad Coates) is planning an ambitious Jamaican Independence Day party while systematically checking his lottery tickets.

Unfortunately, Richard’s wife Margaret (Kim Roberts) and adult children Simeon (Savion Roach) and Rachel (Celia Aloma) aren’t up to celebrating as they deal with their own emotional struggles. Margaret has long resented Richard for foisting the care of his daughter from a previous relationship on her. She’s recovering from an injury and relies on her upstairs neighbour and personal support worker, Milly (Jennifer Villaverde), to take her for frequent walks.

Rachel is the sole breadwinner, juggling two jobs to support the family; she’s fed up with her stepmother’s disrespect while Simeon, recently back from deployment, is just trying to navigate his life with PTSD. All this makes for an often-fraught day of disagreements and resentments that slowly fracture the family’s upbeat facade.

Director (and Stratford actor) André Sills thoughtfully reveals the rich family dynamics. There’s a beautiful naturalness to his cast’s line delivery; he moves his actors around the small apartment set with purpose and intent. Nothing feels awkward or unnatural. It feels like we’re eavesdropping on the everyday lives of real people.

Richard and Margaret’s deep love for each other is ever-present, and it’s evident that he and his daughter Rachel have a special bond. There’s no love lost between Margaret and Rachel. Simeon is the awkward one; the room goes quiet when he enters. Only Rachel can penetrate the wall he’s built between himself and his family. Finally, Milly empathizes with Rachel’s sacrifices and expectations as the eldest child, as the same is expected from her back home in the Philippines.

Beneath it all, the play reveals the secrets, trials and tribulations that the family does their best to grapple with, individually or collectively. Some situations are resolved during the play, while others remain ambiguous. As Richard celebrates Jamaica’s independence from Great Britain, Scott’s theme of independence seems a clear allusion to the freedom that the entire Whyte family is striving for, moment by moment, day by day.

As Richard, Coates reveals, he’s just a good ‘ole boy. His stoic portrayal as a hard-working immigrant to Canada is terrific. His monologue about how he ended up in Canada instead of the United States is tender and heartfelt. Pity that many of his lines were, for me, hard to understand through his thick Jamaican patois. Kim Roberts is thoroughly delightful as Margaret. Her no-nonsense, tough-love portrayal is a fine contrast to Coates’ softer Richard.

As Rachel, Celia Aloma is fabulous as a young woman on the verge of making a life for herself while putting her regrets and resentments behind her. While Savion Roach gives a commanding performance as traumatized soldier Simeon, I wanted to understand his character more – perhaps an even softer side to his seemingly impregnable exterior. But that’s the playwright, not the actor. Finally, Jennifer Villaverde, as Milly, the only non-family member, brings sweetness and genuine care for the family’s well-being.

The set and costumes by Sarah Uwadiae are functional and well-lived-in, from the working kitchen faucet to the plastic-wrapped sofa. The mural fragments mounted on the wall above are an effective ever-present reminder of the neighbourhood’s slow gentrification. As director Sills notes in the program, “What will be left of Little Jamaica once the …construction is complete?...will the murals be the only signifiers of what was?”

Sound design by Steve Lucas nicely evokes the heat of the summer sun. His window projections effectively communicate the cramped living quarters, and the discotheque treatment of Richard and Margaret’s loving and humorous kitchen dance was spot-on! Designer Maddie Bautista’s soundscape of frenetic construction nicely conjures a neighbourhood in transition.

“Get That Hope” is a revelatory new Canadian drama about ordinary Black families – struggling, complex and triumphant. Though we share the Whyte’s secrets, Scott invites us to find in them a version of our own struggles and triumphs. Her familial themes of history, secrets, trauma, betrayal, love, laughter and tears transcend race and creed.

I think we all have a Richard, Margaret, Rachel and Simeon in our own families.

“Get That Hope” will undoubtedly get you thinking.

Running time: Approx. 1 hour, 50 minutes with one intermission. The production runs until September 28 at the Studio Theatre, Stratford, 34 George St. East. For tickets call the Box Office at 1-800-567-1600 or email www.stratfordfestival.ca

‘GET THAT HOPE’ by Andrea Scott
Directed by André Sills
Set and Costume Designer – Sarah Uwadiae
Lighting Designer – Steve Lucas
Composer and Sound Designer – Maddie Bautista

Performers: Celia Aloma, Conrad Coates, Savion Roach, Kim Roberts, Jennifer Villaverde