The play “In the Red and Brown Water” is set in the projects. The main character is an African American track
star named Oya. At the beginning of the
play she struggles between taking a scholarship and leaving town to pursue her
dreams, and spending time with her dying Mother. She chooses to deny the opportunity to leave
town, but when her mother passes away and she wants to go to school, she find
out that it is too late. In the second
part of the play, Oya becomes unsatisfied with her life. She marries Ogun Size, a man that has always
loved her, but she quickly realizes that she loves Shango. She breaks it off with Ogun but then finds
out that Shango got another girl pregnant so she didn’t have a
chance. At the end of the play Oya set’s herself
free by cutting off her ear, giving it to Shango, and peacefully passing away.
I think that the most important thing about the story for Oya
was figuring out where she belonged.
When her mother passes away she was lost. She thought going to school was the answer,
but when that didn’t work she decided to get married and start a family. When a baby never formed in her belly and her
first love came back, she knew that she wanted him all along. At the end of the play when Oya gets the news
that there is no hope for her and Shango, the person she belongs with, she
kills herself. She sets out to find what
makes her happy and in the end she decides that ending her life would make her
happy.
All of the actors and actresses in the play did a fantastic job
of portraying their characters. Other
than the acting, I was compelled by the music and dancing. The heavy drums/percussion added a lot to the
play. It is something so small but it made
a huge difference. When big scenes were
happening the music would follow the plot almost to a T. The dancing also caught my attention. When the characters danced, they went all out
with their movements. They had so much
passion and enthusiasm in their dances which made it easy for the audience to
stay connected to the play.
My only critiques of the performance would be that at the end of
the play I didn’t feel as though I got full closure on what had happened. I left the play unsure of what went on during
some of the scenes. To some this could also
be seen as a good thing because it kept you thinking even after you left the play. Overall, the play was very well put together
and I didn’t have any complaints.
I have seen other live theater performances before and I didn’t expect
this play to come anywhere close to a Broadway musical, but it did. I was impressed by how enthusiastic the
actors and actresses were about their roles.
I was sitting in the front row which added a lot to the experience. At some parts during the play I even felt as
if I was part of the action. I would definitely
recommend all Penn State students to take advantage of the plays put on by our
own students. They are cheaper than
Broadway, and they are almost just as impressive.
