016 Speculative Fiction – New
I always look forward to a Lenny Henry drama. His more recent ones have been less comic and
more serious (while still retaining comic elements). In In
Vino Veritas, Henry plays the Rev Marcus Campbell, a Midlands minister (who
isn’t above playing up a Jamaican accent in the pulpit, while his
long-suffering wife, June, played by Nadine Marshall, is Jamaican). Marcus was an alcoholic but was recovered by
June. Marcus and Deacon Edwards (Peter Bankolé)
are aiming to put their church on the map, raising money to incorporate a café,
a market, and a shop (in true 21st century style; it’s most interesting to
contrast this drama with Kwame Kei-Armah’s Father,
Son and Holy Ghost from 2012). The
drama has an at best ambivalent relationship with modern Christian churches as
opposed to the original Christian message; a homeless man berates the
congregation for mistreating him, given that Jesus always had time for the
indigent and wretched. In the midst of
preparing for the Sunday service to be recorded and televised on American TV,
Marcus accidentally hits a pedestrian.
Although he calls an ambulance, he flees the scene. At home, the demon drink is calling. Someone else is calling: Jesus (John Bradley) (like many inner voices,
it’s never clear if this is actually Jesus or not). Jesus encourages Marcus to get drunk in order
to expose the true messages of Christianity.
A dark comedy, In Vino Veritas also
stars Martina Laird, McKell David, Sean Murray, Lewis Bray, Cameron Percival,
Liam Lau Fernandez, Elizabeth Counsell, Emma Handy, Ryan White, and Jeanette
Percival. It was directed by Mary Peate.
And that ends Quarter 4 reviews! As tradition dictates, the next post will be
the 2018 Golden Weevil Awards.
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