By SHARON EBERSON
Change is in the air at Easy Piney Grove Baptist Church, and for longtime parishioners, nothing good can come of it.
Uncompromising, disapproving elders and rebellious youth in a dwindling congregation are among the woes weighing on young Pastor Harold P. Jones, as he prepares for the 30th annual musical revival – a last-ditch effort to rebuild the financial standing and reputation of his decades-old African-American church.
Congregants are at odds and itching for a mixed-musical genre fight to the finish in Javon Johnson’s Sanctified, the first production of 2025 for Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. Inside the Carter Redwood Theatre, PPTC has fitted the first few rows with pews, adding to the feeling of being inside a house of worship.
with a generation gap in Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre’s production of Sanctified. (Image: Mark C. Southers)
The combative mood among the East Piney Grove faithful is made even more contentious by the arrival of the Pastor’s cousin, Pauletta, a fierce diva with an operatic voice and ego to burn. She barges into God’s house with a look down her nose, and with preserving her own reputation as her only guiding light.
Amid the songs and infighting, Pastor Jones is moved to implore, “It’s all God’s music, no matter how you sing it.”
That’s the message of Sanctified in a nutshell: A story of faith and harmony, imbued with inspirational, upbeat music, riotous humor and a heartfelt plea for generational understanding.
Emir J. Hardy, a Hill District native, Pittsburgh CAPA grad and a revelation here, plays Pastor Jones, while Karla C. Payne feasts on the diva antics of Pauletta Jones … Oops. “That’s Doctor Jones!”
Individual congregants are loud, proud and increasingly out of sync, both vocally and ideologically. There’s Clara (Cheryl El Walker, also makeup and costumes) and Deacon (Charles Timbers), staunch guardians of the church choir’s old ways. Clara’s niece and nephew (Marissa Lily and Manny Walker) have other ideas about the direction the music should take, but their voices aren’t being heard.
Sarah (Willa Catherine Cotten) is the oldest member of the church, whose traditional gospel vocals uplift the title song. She also is a voice of reason among the combatants, if only anyone will listen.
Mils James is a loosey-goosey physical comedy standout as Bobby, a stutterer who has found a home at the church, and who just wants his turn in the spotlight.
For hilarity, no one beats Brenda Marks as the church pianist (music director Dwayne Fulton is doing the actual live playing). Marks’ Thelma is constantly reaching for her flask to “wash away her demons.” Her comic timing is impeccable.
With a portrait of Black Jesus looking over their shoulders, harmony eludes Pastor Jones and his choir, even as they sing up a storm about faith and personal desire, in genres ranging from blues to rap.
on a mission in Sanctified at Madison Arts Center. (Image: Mark C. Southers)
In one of many funny bits, when Jamal (Walker) brings up the idea of using rap, Pauletta’s shock at the word is punctuated with a dissonant chord, representing her horror.
There is no room for rap in her musical world, while it is everything to Jamal.
Siblings Jamal and Monique are opposites in personality and music styles. He’s a rapper wannabe who hopes to use the church revival as a launchpad for a recording career; she’s a shy girl who leans more toward R&B and pop.
Lily’s Monique tries to hold her emotions in check and hides a song she’s been afraid to share – until a stranger helps her find her voice.
The jumping off point for Sanctified is the arrival of a mysterious pair of strangers – the older “Sir” and younger “Mister,” who are on a heavenly mission to help the worshippers remember who they are singing for, while also supporting each other.
As played by Sam Lothard and Dyonisus Akeem (a pitch-perfect teaming of talent), Sir and Mister arrive at the church as mysterious delivery men, bearing gifts of the material kind, as well as wisdom and encouragement .
Their mission is to help the church choir come together in music and faith in time for the revival, but with a looming urgency of their own. Success or failure has consequences not just for the church – especially when Mister is tempted to break the rules of engagement.
Written and directed by Johnson, an adopted Pittsburgher by way of the University of Pittsburgh and Kuntu Rep, Sanctified features original music by Rollo A. Dilworth, as well as church songs and hymns, under music director Dwayne Fulton, with bassist Lorenze Jefferson and drummer JohnKarl Council.
With laughter, hope and wisdom borne of experience, Sanctified takes us on a journey of music as a source of division to a force for joy and unity. It preaches, perhaps to the choir, about the rewards of putting faith first, while respecting differences within the confines of a tight-knit group.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s production of Sanctified runs through March 30, 2025, at Madison Arts Center, 3401 Milwaukee Street, Upper Hill District/Schenley Heights. Tickets: https://www.pghplaywrights.org/season-info/sanctified/sanctified-tickets/ . … After the opening night performance, PPTC leader Mark Clayton Southers called for a “post-show press conference,” with Mils James, Javon Johnson and Marissa Lily (above), using his phone to create a video that’s available at https://www.facebook.com/mark.southers/videos/495709386927886.
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