In The Red and Brown
Water, by Tarell McCraney, a young woman named Oya lives on the Bayous of
Louisiana with her mother, Momma Moja. Oya loves to run, and she is very good
at it; so good that she has attracted the attention of the Louisiana State University.
They offer her a partial scholarship if she runs with them, but she is forced
to decline due to her mother’s failing health. Momma Moja dies later that year,
and hardship is compounded upon loss when “State” does not offer her a
scholarship the next year, saying that they have found a new number one.
Accepting that she is likely not going to be able to leave the bayou, Oya tries
to find a man with whom she can start a family. She finds three potential
suitors, and for much of the remainder of the play goes back and forth between
them as she tries to have children. As the play progresses Oya begins to fear
she is barren, a fear that is confirmed by a shaman. Crushed by this, and
finding out that the one whom she thought she loved, Shango, was having a baby
with another local woman, Oya breaks down and cuts of her ear, handing it to
Shango as she bleeds out, pleading with him to remember her.
Throughout the story Oya was trying to go somewhere; to make
something out of her life. Originally this was her running, but as that failed
she became just as determined to start a family, one that she could raise
properly. Oya never achieved this goal, and it was this that in a large part
contributed to her eventual suicide.
I really liked the character of Oya. She displayed the most
depth, and was fairly tasteful with her emotional buildup and character
building. In particular I like the last scene where Shango cradles the “soft of
her ear” for the last time. It was very profound and appeared to really touch the
audience.
In all honesty this was much better than I had anticipated.
The acting was very strong and the play was very exciting and enrapturing was
start to finish. I would say that the percussionists might have been a little
bit better, as they couldn’t do much to hold a beat, and I thought Ogun could
have played his part better, his transitions form one stage of character to
another were not very fluid.
This was by no means my first experience with theatre, but
my first seeing a production here at Penn State. It was better than many small
scale productions I have seen, but I would expect as much considering the
caliber of the actors on stage. All in all I found this to be a very intriguing
play, and is definitely an encouragement towards going to see other Penn State
productions in the future.
