Helen Belay, left, and Daren A. Herbert perform with cast members Troy Adams, Emerjade Simms, Brandon Oakes and Nicole Joy-Fraser in Come Home - The Legend of Daddy Hall at Tarragon Theatre.Cylla von Tiedemann/Tarragon Theatre
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- Title: Come Home – The Legend of Daddy Hall
- Written by: Audrey Dwyer
- Director: Mike Payette
- Actors: Darren A. Herbert, Emerjade Simms, Helen Belay, Nicole Joy-Fraser, Troy Adams
- Company: Tarragon Theatre
- Venue: Tarragon Mainspace, 30 Bridgman Ave.
- City: Toronto
- Year: To June 9, 2024
Come Home – The Legend of Daddy Hall tells an extraordinary true story of survival in a production with strong technical elements that don’t always fit together.
The new work by Dora Award-winning playwright Audrey Dwyer (One Thing Leads to Another) is based on the life of John “Daddy” Hall, a freeborn man of mixed Black and Mohawk ancestry. Dwyer’s play imagines Hall’s final adventure to the spirit world with themes of home, familial legacy and intergenerational trauma. The world premiere at Tarragon Theatre has the ingredients of a thrilling new theatrical experience.
Daren A. Herbert gives a fiery Tarragon debut as Hall, revisiting events of profound significance in his life. With a chorus of ancestors, he relives the heart-wrenching experiences of escaping slavery after the death of his mother, played by Emerjade Simms. We witness his deep love for his first wife, played by Helen Belay, and their tragic story. Hall bids his final farewell to Brandon Oakes as his father, who is leaving for a hunt to provide for his family. His father never returned, and that abandonment became a driving force for Hall throughout the rest of his life.
Hall’s journey is harrowing, crossing North America twice. He meets his second wife, Elizabeth, played by Nicole Joy-Fraser, as she rescues him from near death on his way back to Canada. He fathers children before running again, forever a boy searching for his home and family. Dwyer weaves a series of vignettes and monologues featuring a future grandson Billie (Troy Adams) as he, too, searches for guidance from those who came before.
Under the direction of Mike Payette, the cast deftly navigates the dreamy set designed by Jawon Kang. The sound design and live music of Spy Dénommé-Welch and Catherine Magowan, along with the work of veteran lighting designer Michelle Ramsay, add mystical otherworldliness. Christine Ting-Huan Urquhart’s costume design aims to place the audience in the different eras of Hall and his descendants.
Emerjade Simms and Helen Belay in a scene in Come Home - The Legend of Daddy Hall.Cylla von Tiedemann/Tarragon Theatre
Hall’s life is a fascinating story of survival. The script is lush, with an enchanting rhythm, offering insight into the humanity we share with people who lived 200 years ago. Themes such as the struggle for sovereignty, the legacy of slavery and the power of love are resonant with modern audiences. The design and scenography are impressive and the actors’ individual performances are, at times, captivating.
However, the show is not greater than the sum of these parts. The Legend of Daddy Hall weaves memories and experiences that span decades with a script that dances between poetry and prose. But there was a disconnect between the text and performers that resulted in a sense of many individual performances happening simultaneously, rather than one cohesive ensemble working together. Often one actor was giving a more poetic interpretation while another would feel overly literal and rigid.
Although The Legend of Daddy Hall does not manage to transcend the skills of its artists, its story is compelling enough to rise above the hiccups and grab the audience’s attention.
In the interest of consistency across all critics’ reviews, The Globe has eliminated its star-rating system in film and theatre to align with coverage of music, books, visual arts and dance. Instead, works of excellence will be noted with a critic’s pick designation across all coverage. (Television reviews, typically based on an incomplete season, are exempt.)