Pray For Me Review
Sarah Adedeji's sublime exploration of deafness, faith, and acceptance.
Every once in a rare while, I find myself moved by faith. Tonight was once such instance.
Pray For Me, performed by Sarah Adedeji at the Camden People’s Theatre, is a biopic detailing the experience of being Deaf within a Christian environment. Throughout the performance, Adedeji incorporates dance, weaving signed songs in her story, while using a captivating variety of visual imagery.
The performance starts with a simple request from the audience. “Pray for me,” Adedeji asks. She is on her knees.
While Adedeji remains centred in the spotlight from beginning to end, the music accompaniment, composed by her partner, Israel Mbuela, struck me as contemplative and delicately filled with resilience. Furthermore, I felt these were two artists of separate mediums who complemented each other wonderfully. Rather like the regular order of chicken wings and chips which Adedeji used to order after a Church service.
The show followed a vulnerable tale of deeply ingrained beliefs and boundaries which have been invaded under the guise of a good deed. Simply a prayer, no more. A prayer over her deafness, for her to be cured.
As someone who has also been through a fair share of dodgy moments within the church, this cut close to the bone and brought about a silent validation for me. I’m sure I’m not the only one in the room who felt this effect.
To portray the trauma, the choreography was executed with acute precision which cut through the lighting. The music balanced itself between a live composition and studio recordings over a speaker. All these came together to create a powerful portrayal of faith and passion.
However, I was particularly moved by the revelation at the end, when Adedeji proclaimed “I don’t need fixing.”
Followed by a new, simpler request to the audience; “Don’t pray for me.”
Then a song climbed up and took flight around the room. A song which led me to this conclusion: Pray For Me is a powerful demonstration of self-love and acceptance, and proves these are extremely powerful tools for resilience, determination, and authenticity. Sarah Adedeji and Israel Mbuela both have bright futures ahead of them as artists, and I am eager to watch as they bloom and blossom into who God made them to be.
Don’t pray for me, just take me and embrace me; I’m who God made me to be.