Extraordinary casting and heroic performances fascinate in ‘The Brothers Size’
By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Theater Critic
Who are they, these people who speak in unfamiliar accents, seem so simple and rough, and yet have such profound emotions? Who is this playwright, who has actors speak their stage directions before they perform the movements?
The answers explain in part the worldwide fascination with young playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney and his oeuvre, in particular the Yale graduate’s trilogy “The Brother/Sister Plays,” which concerns the people who live in “the distant present” in the projects of fictional San Pere, La. It is near the bayou, and they are dirt poor. The patois they speak is influenced by the Cajun speech common in this part of the world.
Directed by McCraney’s Yale classmate Tea Alagi?, “The Brothers Size,” is the second play in the trilogy. It can be seen in its Southern California premiere at The Old Globe, through Feb. 24.
The first play in the trilogy, “In the Red and Brown Water,” was produced recently by University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Though it is not necessary to see all the plays to appreciate one (the third is titled “Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet”), this viewer’s experience of UCSD’s “In the Red and Brown Water” brought depth of understanding to “The Brothers Size.”
As they became accustomed to the odd cadence, the characters’ names – from African mythology – and the quirky stage directions, the opening night audience warmed to the work and laughed more and more. The effect was magical and cumulative due in part to the playwright’s natural and slow crescendo, the extraordinary casting, and Alagi?’s spare staging in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre. She directed the play’s world premiere at Yale and the Public Theatre, as well as subsequent productions at the Studio Theatre and The Abbey.
“The Brothers Size” concerns Ogun Henri Size (a heroic performance by Joshua Elijah Reese), who is Oshoosi Size’s older, solid, hard-working brother. Just released from prison, the pleasure-bent and bone-weary Oshoosi (appealing Okieriete Onaodowan) takes a job in Ogun’s automotive shop.
Ogun’s love for his brother Oshoosi is palpable and heartbreaking. He is such a good man and he is helpless.
The third character is Elegba (Antwayn Hopper), a convict who protected Ogun in prison. He oozes sex appeal and menace.
Percussionist Jonathan Melville Pratt, who wrote the original music, supports the three actors and punctuates the action. These characters are definitely a tribe apart and absolutely unique to the average playgoer’s experience.
Peter Ksander’s scenic design consists of the bare stage floor, a pile of rocks (Ogun is building a driveway that he admits goes nowhere), and a circle of white particles released from Ogun’s bucket in the first scene. Pondering their mythic significance and composition is a fascination.
Michelle Hunt Souza contributes the homely costumes that never saw an iron; no shirt for Elegba, and Hopper is, as he must be, wondrously built. Gina Scherr’s lighting and Paul Peterson’s sound make fine contributions to the potent effect.
‘The Brothers Size’
WHERE: The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way (Balboa Park)
WHEN: Sun., Thurs. and Wed. at 7 p.m., Thurs. – Sat. at 8 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. through Feb. 24
INFO: 619-234-5623
WEB: theoldglobe.org
