Donja R. Love's Fireflies opens with our protagonist Olivia (DeWanda Wise) writing a letter to a woman named Ruby. She mentions the bombs going off and hopes they end soon. She goes inside and after a few moments Olivia's husband Charles (Khris Davis) enters. From there we are thrust into Charles and Olivia's life together. Charles is a reverend who travels a lot preaching at different cities affected by violence due to the civil rights movement.
Olivia it turns out has hundreds of letters stashed under a floorboard all addressed to Ruby, but never mailed. Charles has known about the letters for three years, including the fact that they are filled with passion towards Ruby the mystery woman. The entirety of the play takes place at the couple's home with the majority of the action occurring in the kitchen. As the play progresses more and more secrets emerge. Charles has been cheating on his wife, he is an alcoholic and has beat her in the past. Olivia is pregnant, but does not want to be. She writes Charles's speeches as she is a gifted writer. This are difficult characters to portray and despite all their flaws, Wise and Davis do a remarkable job of bringing them to life fully fleshed out. It would be easy for these characters to be unlikable, but you sympathize with them and you understand their motives for everything they do.
The actors are wonderful and play off of each other well. They have great chemistry together. Olivia's final sermon is beautiful and delivered with immense passion by wise. Fireflies are God's people being called home, but they are more than that as Olivia proclaims. As she nears the ending of her sermon, the lights dim and the audience is greeted by thousands of fire flies projected on the stage. It is a powerful ending to a powerful piece of theatre.
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