THE BROTHERS SIZE
It was hard to know what to expect with The Brothers Size, a play conceived by American wunderkind Tarell Alvin McCraney, who is a Royal Shakespeare Company international writer-in-residence, the 43rd addition to the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble, as well as a handsome, black gay Yale graduate with an arsenal of harrowing childhood stories from the Louisiana bayous. The director who has tackled it on Griffin’s stage, Imara Savage, admitted in the program notes, “It has been a challenge from start to finish.”
Looking at the influences, you can see why: the spiritual beliefs of the Yoruba nation of Southwestern Nigeria, African drum rhythms, R&B, the gritty patois of cult show The Wire, Shakespeare and Baptist gospel are all thrown in. And you may wonder at the oddness of watching this deeply intimate snapshot of an African American microcosm from a tiny corner of Darlinghurst, Sydney (something Savage is also up-front about).
But all these over-arching premises, these unknown other-places, these accents we recognise mainly from TV, they are left behind. You realise what you are truly being confronted with is a heartbreaking and life-affirming tale of brotherhood, family, and the blood that binds. Size Number One Ogun (Marcus Johnson) is out to protect baby Size Oshoosi Size (Meyne Watt) against the world, whether that be Oshoosi’s ex-jail comrade, Elegba (Anthony Taufa), the taunts of neighbours, the tidal waves of grief, or even from himself. As is often the case with family, where you love the most, you hurt the most, and so too it is no surprise where The Brothers Size end up. It’s a testament to McCraney’s writing that this never gets hawkish, only honest with spikes of brutally humane humour. And it’s a testament to the staging and performances of this production that The Brothers Size made me cry. Go see it, today.
Until Apr 16, SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross, $26-30, 8002 4772, griffintheatre.com.au
