THE BROTHERS SIZE
THE BROTHERS SIZE, Savage Productions, Michael Sieders and Griffin Independent at the SBW Stables Theatre, March 24-April 16, 2011. Photos by Giselle Haber.
IMARA SAVAGE apparently tried for some considerable while to get the rights to Tarell Alvin McCraney’s 2007 play – the second of a trilogy that has been staged to acclaim in the USA. That she finally prevailed is our good fortune; this is a very different America than the white and white middle class one we’re used to. Coming from a young (mid-30s) African-American writer, The Brothers Size is working class African-America, on the racial edge and under the social and political radar.
Ogun Size is a decent, hard working man, struggling to make a living in his car repair shop somewhere on the Gulf coast of Louisiana. His younger brother Oshoosi is just out of jail, on parole, and full of misplaced lip and ambition. That an Ogun and an Oshoosi are characters in Yoruba mythology is interesting but not vital to understanding or enjoying the play; it’s more that they give the playwright a foundation on which to anchor an otherwise rickety-slim narrative. The play’s real strengths lie in the language – poetic, forceful, rhythmic and bold – and the triangulated characters. As well as the brothers there is the interloper, Elegba, an ex-con whose malign influence on his prison “brother”, the impressionable Oshoosi, is the catalyst for what must inevitably come to pass.
Imara Savage directs as well as producing and part of her achievement is in assembling a cast as dynamic as the play demands. As the feckless, jobless and finally hopeless Oshoosi, recent NIDA graduate Meyne Wyatt is tremendous. Not only does he grapple successfully with the technical demands of the rapid-fire semi-patois and body language of black urban America, but his command of the character – an obnoxious man-boy who gradually reveals a vulnerability that is heartbreaking – is remarkably mature.
As big brother Ogun, Marcus Johnson is a beautiful, solemn presence; a man whose life has been sacrificed for the love of his younger sibling and who, in the end, must make an even tougher choice. In contrast, Anthony Taufa creates an uneasy and dangerous attraction out of Elegba. The prison buddy all too easily entices Oshoosi out from under Ogun’s wing at the repair shop with the promise of dope, pussy and a car to ride around in. That there’ll be tears – and worse – before bedtime is a foregone conclusion.
Underpinning the mythic and contemporary elements of the play is an understated yet potent commentary-back story on the everyday reality of the African-American under class. These are people for whom Barack Obama or Oprah Winfrey are as unreal and unlikely as any Yoruba god, and possibly even less accessible. It’s a grim thought, but an obvious one and McCraney offers neither sentimental nor false hope for an ending. Nevertheless, the strength and compassion of Ogun and the sheer willful energy of Oshoosi combine to suggest there might be some room for optimism; but not much.
The Brothers Size is the first production for 2011 for Griffin Independent and it sets the bar high. Designer David Fleischer and lighting designer Verity Hampson have combined to empty the Stables stage of everything but light and human energy. The matte black walls simultaneously offer infinite space and claustrophobia: it’s very effective in containing and conveying the brothers’ plight. And the performances are tremendous: beautifully judged, three-dimensional and riveting to watch. Catch them if you can.
