“There ain’t no God and there ain’t no devil,” a young woman declares about two-thirds of the way through York Walker’s “Covenant.”
Hmm. In the world of “Covenant,” it’s best to hold off on categorical statements when it comes to metaphysical matters.
There’s a question, implicitly asked and chillingly answered, in the gripping SpeakEasy Stage Company production of Walker’s layered gothic drama: How far would you go to get what — or whom — you want?
Directed by Dawn M. Simmons with a sure grasp of atmosphere and pace, “Covenant” transpires in what, to all outward appearances, is a narrowly circumscribed environment. Set in the mid-1930s in a small Georgia town, Walker’s one-act play unfolds almost entirely in a single home whose only adornment is a crucifix on the wall. But by the time it’s over, “Covenant” has expanded into the vast realm of the supernatural.
Within that Georgia home live Mama (Crystin Gilmore) and her two daughters, 24-year-old Avery (Deannah DRIPP Blemur), the mother’s favorite, and resentful 19-year-old Violet (Sydney Alicia Jackson). They’re often joined at their dinner table by Ruthie (Kayla Sessoms), also 19, Violet’s ingenuous, socially awkward best friend. Another presence in their household, at least in Mama’s view, is the Lord, whom she invokes constantly.
Her combination of religious dogmatism and sheer, implacable force of personality — both of which are expertly blended by Gilmore into a vivid whole — enables her to exert tight control over her daughters. But that control slips when blues guitarist and singer Johnny “Honeycomb” James (Anthony T. Goss) shows up suddenly and proceeds to woo and win Avery.
This would be a classic outsider-disrupts-the-status-quo scenario but for the fact that Johnny is no outsider. He’s been in love with Avery since they were kids. He had left the town two years earlier, at that time a stammering and awkward young man of no evident talent. Now he has returned as a star, a much-in-demand bluesman, his gifts equally abundant in writing, playing, and singing. What happened?
One possible answer for his transformation surges quickly to the forefront of the (unseen) townspeople’s mind: that Johnny made a Faustian pact with the devil, that he gained musical genius at the price of his soul — that his gift is, quite literally, otherworldly.
If you’re a connoisseur of the blues, this may sound familiar. “Covenant” was inspired by the myth that blues legend Robert Johnson had made such a bargain. A pioneering figure who died at 27 in 1938 but whose influence has lived on for nearly a century, Johnson recorded “Hellhound on My Trail,” which includes the line: “And the days keeps on worryin’ me of a hellhound on my trail.”
To say much more about the storyline in “Covenant” would be to spoil it. If you do see it, you may well feel that Walker’s play might be stronger if he used his story to inquire more deeply into the mysterious nature of creativity and stayed almost exclusively rooted in the psychological currents that course among the four women.
But “Covenant” is plenty strong as it is, and in any case, what really seems to interest the playwright is the mystery of faith and the ways that faith shapes human affairs for good or ill.
Designed by Saskia Martinez, the family’s home offers the contrasting feel of solidity — with its structure of thick wooden planks, horizontally arranged — and vulnerability, the significant gaps between the boards suggesting unwelcome visitors could find a way in.
Mackenzie Adamick’s sound design and Kevin Dunn’s lighting design, married to Justin Ellington’s original music, combine to create a steadily more ominous vibe that eventually culminates in some effectively executed jump scares.
As Johnny, Goss delivers a portrait of the bluesman that’s a blend of charm, drive, and charisma, along with the subtle sense that he might be hiding something. The performances by Jackson, as younger sister Violet, and Sessoms, as friend Ruthie, came off as stilted at the beginning of Sunday’s performance at the Roberts Studio Theatre, but they got into the flow as the play’s pace began to accelerate.
In her portrayal of Avery, the most challenging role, Blemur skillfully traverses the wide spectrum her character has to travel, from graceful composure to … something different.
Playwright Walker clearly wants us to think about the porousness of the border between the natural and the supernatural, and about the possibility that good people can do bad things when they arrive at that border. It’s telling that human emotions have the final word in “Covenant,” albeit in the eeriest imaginable way.
COVENANT
Play by York Walker. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Through Oct. 17. Tickets $17.25-$93.75. 617-933-8600, speakeasystage.com
Don Aucoin can be reached at donald.aucoin@globe.com. Follow him @GlobeAucoin.