I was utterly unprepared for what I saw last night at the explosive drama The Ministry of Grace at Victoria’s Belfry Theatre.
Written by Niitsitapi Nation resident Tara Beagan, The Ministry of Grace is a mind-bending, emotion-seizing trip through Beagan’s familial history. The play is set in 1950s California, and revolves around the protagonist Mary, an Indigenous woman who is separated from her children because of colonization and residential schools. Mary meets a travelling minister, Cane, who recognizes her natural healing gifts and sets out to exploit her, promising to help her reunite with her family, and in the process renaming her “Grace.” Although the plot may seem uncomplicated, the development of the characters and their courtship between good and evil makes for a sometimes grizzly and always absorbing story.
The acting in Ministry really stands out. Metis actor PJ Prudat plays Mary, and is a wonder on stage. She engages completely with who she is playing, and not only acts the character but is the character. Mary’s tragedy is evident, but she doesn’t play a victim; she accepts every situation as it is and figures out what to do next. Stafford Perry is Brother Cain; he is so convincingly repulsive and dirty, poor Perry may have to dodge when he exits the building after a show. Sheldon Elter plays strong-as-oak Clem and really represents the human being everyone should aspire to be; Lara Schmitz is Lizzie-Mae, a naïve southern teenager who makes every mistake possible and yet managed to melt my heart.
Andy Moro designed a realistic set of a travelling sermon that captures the play’s essence of both warmth and dislocation, and Jeff Chief’s costume designs have a windblown, lost-on-the-prairie look to them.
Not neat or tidy, and not gooey or fuzzy, there is a wildness to this production. The Ministry of Grace is a force to be reckoned with—it will reach across the stage, grab your heart in its hands, and make off with it. See it happen. I dare you.
The Ministry of Grace
Various times, until Sunday, March 1
Various prices, Belfry Theatre
belfry.bc.ca