“Everybody’s got secrets,” Ruthie warns in the opening line of Covenant… and sugar, she’s not kidding. As Ruthie spits and drools in the darkness of this opening scene, I should have known I was in for something like I’d never seen on stage before. Covenant is a haunting Southern Gothic ghost story, written by York Walker and directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden. It will have you clutching your pearls one minute and crossing yourself the next. If you’re looking for a post-Halloween outing that’s more spine-tingling than a haunted walk in the woods alone at night and a whole lot smarter than your average slasher flick, bless your heart and get to the Alliance before November 9, 2025.
Set in a small Georgia town where gossip spreads faster and further than kudzu, Covenant follows Avery, who’s desperate for a way out, and Johnny “Honeycomb” James, a blues musician who comes home with a talent so good it feels… well, unholy. The whispers start faster than a Sunday potluck. But did he really make a deal with the devil for that guitar magic? Or is the devil already living right there among them, wearing their best church hat?
Kajese-Bolden’s direction makes the whole thing hum with tension and rhythm. To be honest, she scared the hell out of me. Thunder that rattles your ribs, lights that flicker like lightning bugs possessed. A jump scare that had me yell out unabashedly. The stage itself feels alive, stretching long and narrow like a shotgun house where no secret stays buried long. You can almost smell the magnolias and moonshine.
The cast? Lord, they deliver. Jemarcus Kilgore’s Johnny has the kind of easy charm that makes you forgive him even when you know better, while Brittany Deneen’s Violet steals scenes like the little sister who knows everyone’s business and can’t quite keep it to herself. And Deidrie Henry as Mama? Her faith could move mountains or flatten sinners.
What makes Covenant so devilishly good is how it straddles the line between myth and truth, sin and survival. The scariest part isn’t the thunder or the semi-exorcism. It’s how believable it all feels. Because down South, rumor and religion often come wrapped in the same lace-trimmed package.
So if your fall plans need a little more soul (the Southern and haunted kind), go see Covenant at the Alliance. Just don’t sit too close to the stage… you might feel something breathing back.