Take me to church! Dr Elaine Spencer, writer, director, and producer of The Preacher, brought her uplifting musical comedy to the Broadway Theatre, Catford, for one night only. The gospel play was created to inspire the Christian community, travelling from the US to the UK and the Caribbean. The Preacher gives us a glimpse into the inner workings of the African American Greater Love Church as its pastor Josiah (Jivaro Johnson) looks for an heir.
The pastor is resistant to changing the church practices, but his son JJ (Isaiah Tart) wants to change things up. Despite their disagreements, pastor Josiah is determined to hand his church over to JJ, despite the obvious choice, Elder Roscoe (Dennis Langley).
Ignoring the wishes of his church senior leaders, the pastor appoints JJ to continue his legacy. But JJ isn’t ready for the role; he fires a beloved elder, re-enters his drug addiction, and tries to hide money problems. A complicated love triangle develops between JJ, his wife Jelissa (Jaynella Johnson), Elder Roscoe, and the church secretary Sister Caroline (Rachael Sade Bello).
All the while, JJ’s cousin Darius (Joseph Marshall) plots behind his back, and Pastor Josiah reveals a dark secret. Finally, Pastor Josiah’s wife (Shamira Matthew) has had enough of the antics and scolds everyone for their bad behaviour. She prays over JJ and brings the church members together again.
Although the story was unnecessarily complicated, it’s hard not to like The Preacher for it’s comedic, American-sitcom-style charm. The physical comedy was superb and kept the play upbeat throughout. Dennis Langley, Shamira Matthew, and Juwan Clarke (Brother Ed) particularly shone, with excellent comedic timing and hilarious slapstick moments. The audience were on side, drawn into pantomime booing and cheering moments which had everyone in good spirits.
Jivaro Johnson, Shamira Matthew, and Isiah Tart put in stellar vocal performances. Ballads were mixed in with sing-along songs of praise, which reminded us of the overarching faith focus. The gospel music was fun and joyful to get involved in and had the theatre feeling like Sunday service, with everyone singing along. Some of the ballads felt misplaced, or were too long, but there were a nice mix of happy and sad tunes.
As much as I enjoyed the jokes and singing, the running time felt a little too long. Some scenes felt drawn out, and the first half left some audience members bored. The second half picked up, but the ending seemed to tie things up too quickly in a bow.
There were some technical issues, which may have been due to the short stint at the theatre. The mics boomed or were too quiet, which made the script difficult to follow at times. Unfortunately, some jokes were largely missed by the audience due to the projection issues. Long scene changes had us all a little confused but is only a small gripe.
The lighting was also an issue, but made a scene change with Pastor Josiah unexpectedly hilarious. Following his heart attack, the stage didn’t become dark enough, so the audience saw him get up and run off stage. We were all in fits of laughter, so albeit unintentional, added to the comedy.
The overall storyline had some issues with plot holes and tone. The first lady seemed to arrive out of nowhere, having had no idea about her husbands planned retirement. Her character, as well as others, felt one-dimensional and too stereotyped for a modern comedy. Most importantly, there were some scenes of emotional abuse that were quickly made light of, which left me slightly uncomfortable.
If you don’t take it too seriously, The Preacher is a funny, uplifting show. Some important topics were brought up, but I felt they could have been handled with more care. Dr Spencer, the cast, and the stage team have clearly put love into the show and are working to spread positivity. It was nice to see an underrepresented community have a space to celebrate in theatre, even if the story could use a little work.
Find out more about The Preacher
