You’ll nod along and laugh in recognition at this revelatory new Canadian play at the Stratford Festival

It’s the beginning of a swelteringly hot August day in the Whyte home in Toronto’s Little Jamaica neighbourhood along Eglinton West.

While sounds of outdoor construction rumble through the walls — the neighbourhood is in the midst of gentrification and change — there’s just as much turmoil gathering inside the cosy, modest apartment.

Retired factory worker Richard (Conrad Coates) is thrilled that it’s Jamaican Independence Day and is busy checking his lottery tickets while looking forward to a picnic later that day. Secretly, however, he’s dealing with something he doesn’t even comprehend. His wife, Margaret (Kim Roberts), also retired, is recovering from some injury, and upstairs neighbour and personal support worker Milly (Jennifer Villaverde) drops by regularly to take her for walks.

Rachel (Celia Aloma), Richard’s daughter from another woman, is exhausted from working two jobs but has hatched a plan that will allow her more freedom. And her younger half-brother Simeon (Savion Roach), Richard and Margaret’s son, is getting ready to attend the funeral of one of his war veteran friends.

As with any family, long-standing dynamics exist and are suggested early on by Scott’s layered, subtle script. Richard and Rachel enjoy a special bond, while Rachel and Margaret have never got along. Everyone but Rachel treats Simeon carefully, perhaps because he’s suffering from PTSD or maybe just because he’s the pampered only son.

The two half-siblings bicker believably yet are affectionately united by their childhoods. Rachel resents the fact that she’s expected to do and sacrifice everything as the eldest female child — something she shares with Milly, who’s in a similar situation with her own family back home in the Philippines.

While we learn a lot in the first act, none of the information seems expository. Rather, it feels like casual information you absorb in real life, as tea is being steeped or rice is being soaked. A lovely scene in which Richard and Margaret dance to a Beenie Man song, magically enhanced by lighting designer Steve Lucas, tells you a lot about the couple’s enduring love. The fact that Scott includes her characters’ flaws — whether cultural prejudice or stubborn resentment — makes them feel all the more authentic.

It’s not until the second act, however, that the play unleashes its full power, as secrets and long-held grudges are ripped open and illusions shattered. Some truths can be accepted by the characters quickly, but others will take years to resolve. As if in response to the day they’re celebrating, each character makes a step or two towards independence.

Director Sills takes great care in presenting the story, allowing the actors to shine in moments that never feel stagy or unearned. Speaking in a thick Jamaican patois, Coates’ account of Richard’s journey to Canada rather than the U.S. is shot through with wonder, while Roberts wholly understands Margaret’s compromises and particular brand of tough love — even her compliments sound like insults.

Playing the outsider figure, Villaverde brings a warmth and understanding to her caretaking role, while Roach makes his traumatized soldier deeply sympathetic beneath his gruff exterior. I wish Aloma’s Rachel had a richer backstory, or a present-day narrative that involved more than the buying of a condo. But she’s superb at playing an adult woman finally coming to terms with her past.

Sarah Uwadiae’s set feels homey and lived-in; an overflowing pot on an actual range was a nice touch for a particularly tense scene. Maddie Bautista’s sound design captures the frenetic quality of the milieu nicely. But the use of a fragmented mural hovering over the main playing area doesn’t quite work to evoke the neighbourhood.

Back in 2018, Scott was inspired by watching Stratford’s revival of O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” It got her wondering why there were no Canadian dramas about ordinary Black families. This play is the result, and seeing it being performed in the very same space as the O’Neill is a revelation. It feels at home here, as it will on other stages across the continent.

While Scott’s world is specific, the play’s themes and its characters will have you nodding along and laughing in recognition. Make sure you get to “Get That Hope.”