By Andrea Scott. Directed by Eleanor Felton. Produced by Rumble Theatre as part of the Tremors Festival. At the Italian Cultural Centre on Thursday, August 11. Continues until August 20

Rumble Theatre’s Tremors festival is designed to showcase young talent. In Better Angels: A Parable, Andrea Scott’s script is weak, but some of the other artists’ contributions are promising.

Scott tells the story of Akosua, a young Ghanaian woman who comes to Toronto to work as a domestic for a couple named Leila and Greg. Leila talks a good line—“You’re going to be part of the family in no time”—but she won’t let Akosua use the family’s dishes or leave the house without her, and when Leila confiscates Akosua’s passport, it becomes clear that the play is going to be about modern-day North American slavery.

That’s a serious issue, but Scott’s treatment feels driven more by good intentions than by credible characters or narrative. Leila is a cartoon villain. She regards herself as enlightened, but starts writing a novel, supposedly inspired by Akosua’s heritage, about a slave girl whose slave trader makes her into a princess. Some plot points, including a moment in which Greg suddenly becomes sexually aggressive with Akosua, are poorly motivated. And there are big gaps in logic. After six months, Greg still seems unaware that he and Leila aren’t paying Akosua. Akosua suddenly becomes assertive, challenging Greg and Leila on a number of contentious issues, which makes little sense for a character who has shown few hints of agency before then. And there’s a melodramatic act of violence. Despite billing itself as a parable, Better Angels mostly sits in a kind of faulty naturalism.

Fortunately, Britney Buren delivers a radiant—and grounded—performance as Akosua. Charismatic but understated, Buren makes even the most unlikely statements feel honest. Chris Francisque is also quietly, credibly present as Greg. But Julie Disher overacts her socks off as Leila.

Using minimal materials, Sarah Mabberley delivers an imaginative set, using strips of clear plastic that she stretches taut between surfaces, sometimes to create walls and sometimes to create focal points.

I’ve seen Mabberley’s work before, but I’m glad that Tremors introduced me to Buren and Francisque.