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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

In The Red and Brown Water


This past weekend I went to see The Penn State School of Theater’s production of In the Red and Brown Water, by Tarell Alvin McCraney.  It’s a tragic story about a young girl named Oya, who, despite her passion for running, is forced to turn down an opportunity to join an elite team to take care of her sick mother, and later finds her self unable to leave the town she grew up in.  After the death of her mother she grows bitter and lonely, finding comfort only in a man who is torn away from her by war and his lust of other women.  It seems as though throughout the entire play nothing can go right for Oya, while all of her friends are having so much success and love with happy marriages, pregnancies, and bright futures.  The tale also follows the life of her childhood friend Little Elegba, who rebels when he hits puberty and makes some bad choices that will follow him for the rest of his life. 
Oya’s ability to run mirrors her personality: she is a strong, brave individual who has the will power to overcome any obstacles.  Unfortunately, when she no longer has running in her life, she loses the spunky drive that was once so prominent.  Her beauty and kindness once captivated every man who knew her, but that changed when her personality darkened and grew cold.
I was most compelled by the importance of music and dancing in the play.  There were a lot of very powerful scenes that including either a more tribal dance, or dancing to popular current music.  Music is shown in the play as a form of expression; many of the scenes that show a character professing something important was during a musical number.
I have seen many plays in my life and I thought this performance lived up to my expectations drawn from past experiences.  The actors did a great job of engaging the audience with their energetic dance scenes and when they came into the crowd.  I thought the acting was incredible and I felt like I could relate to each of the characters and what they were going through.  The girl who played Oya very well represented her internal struggle.  Although Oya never came right out and said that she was unhappy with how her life was going, it was very clear through her actions, the look on her face, and how she changed from the beginning to end of the play.  Overall, thumbs up, Penn State!

4 comments:

  1. It is really great how you described the play thoroughly without making it the entire length of the blog post. It was brief and to the point which made this very easy to read! I also like how you related her running abilities to her personality and how when one was lost, so was the other. I agree that the dancing aspect was an important part of the play because of the way it perfectly expressed what was going on with the characters at the time. Good job!

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  2. Great Job! I loved how you concisely crafted the summary of the performance! It truly was a "summary" of the play and by making it so concise and easy to read. You did a great job recognizing the musical importance of the play. Not only was it something that allowed the characters to express emotion it also expressed the culture of the characters. I thought that it was so nice to finally see a different type of performance. Great job on your post I'm glad you got alot out of it! :D

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  3. Your summary was easy to read and helped me understand the play which I personally found confusing a lot easier. I like how you pointed how Oyas personality mirrors her running, I never thought of it that way! Good summary and analysis of In Red and Brown Water!

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  4. The way you described Oya and her acting was so true! The actors did a great job and the performance was very believable. Your summary was great too :)

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