McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays Extend at the Public

By Adam Hetrick
19 Nov 2009

Brian Tyree Henry in The Brothers Size
Brian Tyree Henry in The Brothers Size
Photo by Joan Marcus

The Public Theater has announced that Tarell Alvin McCraney's bayou-set trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays Part 1 & Part 2 will play an additional week of performances through Dec. 20.

Tina Landau directs the first of the plays, In The Red and Brown Water, which began previews Oct. 21; while Robert O'Hara stages The Brothers Size and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet, which followed on Oct. 30. McCraney's trilogy opened to strong reviews Nov. 17. The Public originally scheduled performances through Dec. 13.

The engagement is a co-presentation with New Jersey's McCarter Theatre Center, where the production made its world premiere last spring.

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According to the Public, "Tarell Alvin McCraney's trilogy is a collection of modern-day stories of kinship, love, heartache and coming-of-age centered around an extended family and community in the Bayou."

The Brothers Size centers on the relationship between Ogun Size and his younger kin, Oshoosi Size. One is a hardworking auto mechanic, while the other is a newly released prison inmate. Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet, the final work of the trilogy, explores a young man's coming of age and his own budding sexuality.

In the Red and Brown Water follows African-American teen Oya (named for the Yoruba goddess of wind), who must chose between a track scholarship at a state university or to stay by the side of her ailing mother.

The cast includes Sterling K. Brown (Topdog/Underdog, Macbeth), as Shango/Shua, Kimberly Hébert Gregory (Amen Corner) as Aunt Elegua/Shun, Brian Tyree Henry (A Civil War Christmas) as Egungun/Oshoosi/Tarell, Andre Holland (Wig Out) as Elegba/Marcus, Marc Damon Johnson (The Poor Itch) as Ogun, Sean Allan Krill (Mamma Mia) as O Li Roon/Man From State, Nikiya Mathis (Eclipsed) as Shun/Shaunta Iyun, Kianné Muschett (Our Lady of 121st Street) as Oya/Osha, and Heather Alicia Simms (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) as Nia/Mama Moja/Oba.

Designing the productions are James Schuette (scenic design), Karen Perry (costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design) and Lindsay Jones (sound design).

McCraney is also the author of The Breach (Southern Rep in New Orleans, Seattle Rep), Wig Out! (The Vineyard, Sundance Summer Theater Institute), Without/Sin (Yale Cabaret), Run Mourner, Run (Yale Cabaret), and A Taurian Tale (52nd Street Project).

The current engagement is a co-presentation with New Jersey's McCarter Theatre Center, where the trilogy made its world premiere last spring. Following the Public Theater presentation, The Brother/Sister Plays will arrive at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago from Jan. 21-May 23, 2010.

The world premiere of McCraney's The Brothers Size was staged by the Public Theater as part of the 2007 Under the Radar Festival. In the Red and Brown Water made its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in 2008 under Landau's direction. The trilogy made its London premiere at the Young Vic in 2008.

The Brother/Sister Plays are presented in two separate evenings, with marathons scheduled for the weekends. For tickets visit PublicTheater.

The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.