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The Los Angeles premiere of the second play in Tarell Alvin McCraney's acclaimed “Brother/Sister Plays” trilogy stands alone – you don’t need any knowledge of the first (In the Red and Brown Water) or third (Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet) to enjoy The Brothers Size.
Recently paroled Oshoosi Size seeks to jumpstart his life. Working in an auto repair shop for his brother Ogun, however, was not what he had in mind. When his old friend Elegba rolls up, offering a different direction, Oshoosi quickly finds himself torn between his brother, his loyalties and his dreams. It’s an exuberantly ...Read More
The Los Angeles premiere of the second play in Tarell Alvin McCraney's acclaimed “Brother/Sister Plays” trilogy stands alone – you don’t need any knowledge of the first (In the Red and Brown Water) or third (Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet) to enjoy The Brothers Size.
Recently paroled Oshoosi Size seeks to jumpstart his life. Working in an auto repair shop for his brother Ogun, however, was not what he had in mind. When his old friend Elegba rolls up, offering a different direction, Oshoosi quickly finds himself torn between his brother, his loyalties and his dreams. It’s an exuberantly theatrical drama that weaves together the pulsing rhythms of the Louisiana bayou with African Yoruba mythology to create a stylized story of love and heartache.
“Whose dream is it?” asks director Shirley Jo Finney, who received Ovation and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle directing awards for her work on In the Red and Brown Water. “The world of this play is set somewhere between waking and sleep and between the conscious and unconscious, in the blue-gray world where the spirit lies and heaven and earth intersect. It’s about transformation, sacrifice and brotherly love.”
“I began taking old stories from the canon of the Yoruba and splicing them, placing them down in a mythological housing project in the South,” said McCraney in an interview. “The ritual onstage is taking these very old stories, archetypes, myths, and even rumors, and playing them out with new voices, new bodies, set in new and present times.”
The character names in the “Brothers Size” invoke Yoruba “orishas,” or deities: Ogun is the god of iron-working, the patron deity of all those who use metal in their occupations. Oshoosi is the divine hunter associated with the human struggle for survival – cunning, intelligent and cautious. Elegba is the guardian of the crossroads of life, but is also well known for being the orisha of chaos and trickery who leads mortals into temptation.
The Brothers Size opens on Saturday, June 7, with performances Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. in a limited engagement that must close July 27 (dark June 19-22 and July 4). Preview performances take place May 30 through June 6 on the same schedule. Tickets are $34 (reserved seating), except previews which are $20. On Thursdays and Fridays only, students with ID are $25. The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Avenue (at Normandie) in Los Angeles. Secure, on-site parking is available for $5. The Fountain Theatre is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. For reservations and information, call 323-663-1525 or go to www.FountainTheatre.com.
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