Aleshea Harris's Is God Is, now playing at the Royal Court Theatre, is a wild comedy and revenge drama of fierce beauty. The play blends elements of the Bible, spaghetti Westerns, classical Greek and Jacobean tragedy, and Tarantino-esque wit into something searingly original.
The story follows twins Anaia and Racine, who bear the scars of a traumatic past. Racine's scars creep down her back and arms, while Anaia's spread across her face. Believing their mother died in a fire 18 years ago, they are summoned by a letter from her, learning the truth: their father set her alight. Now dying, she commands them to kill him.
Chloe Lamford's design is part cinematic, part pop art, with real flames and cartoonish backdrops. Armed with a rock in a sock, the twins confront a crooked lawyer, their father's new family, and finally the father himself, a swaggering figure in a wide-brimmed hat.
Harris subverts the revenge framework, as the sisters call their mother God, placing power in Black female hands. The play confronts the abuse and denigration of Black women's bodies, yet there is tenderness in the sisterly bond. The stylised violence is exhilarating, but revenge comes at a terrible cost.
