Telling the Stuff of Life through the Senses
By Lauren Yarger
Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s prose, spiritual songs, African rhythms and direction that enhances dreamlike storytelling combine to make The Brother/Sister Plays at the Public Theater a sensory delight.
The work, presented in two parts, combines three of McCraney’s plays about the African-American experience of a group of people living in the projects in the “distant present” of San Pere Louisiana : In the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size and Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet.
In part one, directed by Tina Landau, we meet Oya (an effervescent Kianné Muschett) who gives up an athletic scholarship to stay with her dying mother Moja (Heather Alicia Simms). Her aunt, the non-nonsense Elegua (Kimberly Hebert Gregory) come to look after her when Moja dies, and doesn’t approve of the man in her life, Shango Sterling K. Brown), whose wandering eye won’t let him settle down and give Oya the baby she so desperately wants. Timid Ogun Size (Marc Damon Johnson) steps in when Shango leaves and offers her a life with him.
Landau creates physical mirrors in actors behind the action, moving, sighing and singing to create a dream-like quality to the story. James Schuette’s simplistic scenic design lighted by Peter Kaczorowski enhance the mood.
The second play, directed by Robert O’Hara, follows the story of the Size brothers, Orgun and Oshoosi (Brian Tyree Henry) and their friend Elegba (Andre Holland). This middle segment is the richest as far as character development. Orgun tries to help his recently paroled brother stay out of trouble, and when they have to part, the emotions are raw. In part 3, Elegba’s son Marcus (Holland) comes to terms with the fact that his father was "sweet" (gay) and with his own sexuality.
The performances of the principle actors, as well as the ensemble, many of whom play multiple roles in the saga, are strong and believable. McCraney’s storytelling devices of having the characters speak their stage directions as well as the too frequently used answer to a question, “How could he/she not?” grow tedious in the four and a half hours that make up the entire work, but these are minor flaws in an otherwise satisfying work. If you take out the sensory devices for telling the story, you’re left with a tale of a bunch of folks who make poor choices and have to deal with the consequences, which puts these tales into an “everyman” category, rather than just the genre of Afican-American experience.
The Brother/Sister Plays run Off-Broadway at the Public, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC through Dec. 20. For tickets, call 212-967-7555.
Christian might also like to know:
• Language
• Sexual dialogue
• Hoodoo
• God’s name taken in vain
• Sexual dancing
• Homosexuality
• Homosexual activity
By Lauren Yarger
Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s prose, spiritual songs, African rhythms and direction that enhances dreamlike storytelling combine to make The Brother/Sister Plays at the Public Theater a sensory delight.
The work, presented in two parts, combines three of McCraney’s plays about the African-American experience of a group of people living in the projects in the “distant present” of San Pere Louisiana : In the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size and Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet.
In part one, directed by Tina Landau, we meet Oya (an effervescent Kianné Muschett) who gives up an athletic scholarship to stay with her dying mother Moja (Heather Alicia Simms). Her aunt, the non-nonsense Elegua (Kimberly Hebert Gregory) come to look after her when Moja dies, and doesn’t approve of the man in her life, Shango Sterling K. Brown), whose wandering eye won’t let him settle down and give Oya the baby she so desperately wants. Timid Ogun Size (Marc Damon Johnson) steps in when Shango leaves and offers her a life with him.
Landau creates physical mirrors in actors behind the action, moving, sighing and singing to create a dream-like quality to the story. James Schuette’s simplistic scenic design lighted by Peter Kaczorowski enhance the mood.
The second play, directed by Robert O’Hara, follows the story of the Size brothers, Orgun and Oshoosi (Brian Tyree Henry) and their friend Elegba (Andre Holland). This middle segment is the richest as far as character development. Orgun tries to help his recently paroled brother stay out of trouble, and when they have to part, the emotions are raw. In part 3, Elegba’s son Marcus (Holland) comes to terms with the fact that his father was "sweet" (gay) and with his own sexuality.
The performances of the principle actors, as well as the ensemble, many of whom play multiple roles in the saga, are strong and believable. McCraney’s storytelling devices of having the characters speak their stage directions as well as the too frequently used answer to a question, “How could he/she not?” grow tedious in the four and a half hours that make up the entire work, but these are minor flaws in an otherwise satisfying work. If you take out the sensory devices for telling the story, you’re left with a tale of a bunch of folks who make poor choices and have to deal with the consequences, which puts these tales into an “everyman” category, rather than just the genre of Afican-American experience.
The Brother/Sister Plays run Off-Broadway at the Public, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC through Dec. 20. For tickets, call 212-967-7555.
Christian might also like to know:
• Language
• Sexual dialogue
• Hoodoo
• God’s name taken in vain
• Sexual dancing
• Homosexuality
• Homosexual activity
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