'Brothers Size' reveals divine sparks in three men

Mike Fischer
Special to the Journal Sentinel

Even before you take your seat for the sensational Milwaukee Chamber Theatre production of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “The Brothers Size,” the gods are already in the house. 

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Entering the Broadway Studio Theatre, one is greeted by Jahmés Tony Finlayson, a homeless man doubling as the Egungun in Yoruba mythology.  Playing percussion on found objects that transform a makeshift homeless shelter into an ancestral hearth, he both embodies and summons those ancestral spirits watching over us and dwelling within us.

The Egungun’s pulsing drums summon three more Yoruba deities, stripped to their waist as they enter the theater in a thrillingly theatrical stomp, devised by director and movement choreographer Marti Gobel.  

Marques Causey (from left), Andrew Muwonge and Travis A. Knight commune in "The Brothers Size," performed by Milwaukee Chamber Theatre.

Ogun Size (Travis A. Knight) isn’t just a car mechanic in a nondescript Louisiana town, but the god of metal, seemingly hard but also a creator and builder, offering shelter in a world of woe that includes losing his parents when he was little more than a child.

Younger brother Oshoosi Size (Andrew Muwonge) isn’t just a recently released convict but a seeker, trying to find himself and know the world. 

Elegba (Marques Causey) isn’t just Oshoosi’s onetime cellmate and all-time best friend, but a trickster straddling the crossroads, challenging Oshoosi to find his path.

Hence before a word of McCraney’s gorgeously poetic text gets spoken, Gobel has already underscored this play’s many reminders that every black man and all of us are also already gods, even if we occasionally lose our way in this vale of tears. 

That knowledge changes how we see these men, each trying to move forward through lighting designer Jason Fassl’s twilight on another evocative Madelyn Yee set, this one dominated by Ogun’s car garage and suggesting an urban block from any city in America.

Their story calls to mind the struggle in so many August Wilson plays between a no-nonsense father figure and a prodigal son, both men filled with love but struggling to express it.  Their story can also be extremely funny; credit Gobel again, who grasps the comedy within the tragic disconnect between our divine selves and our posturing personae.     

Gobel’s actors — all doing excellent work — never let us forget the godlike men beneath the masks.

So yes: Knight’s Ogun can seem hard and stern.  But Knight also lets us see the regret of a man who’s lost a lot — and his fervent love for a wayward brother who’s all he’s got left.

And yeah, Muwonge’s Oshoosi can seem like a punk.  But Muwonge simultaneously suggests a sensitive and romantic dreamer, filled with a love reflecting his belief in a better world.

And sure, Causey’s Elegba can sometimes seem like an irresponsible (and hilarious) clown.  But he’s often more akin to a Shakespearean fool, shining radiating light on others’ hidden truths.  Like this historic, landmark production.  Like this beautiful, inspiring play. 

“The Brothers Size” continues through March 18 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre, 158 N. Broadway.  For tickets, call (414) 291-7800 or visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com.

PROGRAM NOTES

Arias in the night: McCraney’s plays are filled with lyrical, transcendent arias; their delivery here is magical.  Before the night is through, Knight’s Ogun will recall all he’s lost in helping Oshoosi find himself.  Oshoosi will search for his true self by traveling back to Africa in his mind.  Causey’s Elegba will offer a heartbreaking lament for the many thousands gone, dividing black men from their beloved brothers on a trail of tears stretching from the Middle Passage to every jail in America.      

From Athens to the Bayou: Ten years ago, Gobel (Atossa) and Knight (Xerxes) teamed up as performers in a Renaissance Theaterworks production of “The Persians,” an all-too-rare Milwaukee production of a Greek tragedy.  Artistic directors shy away from these plays; wonderful as they are, audiences don’t seem to get them (largely, I’d submit, because so few directors do). 

In its theatricality, its related incorporation of stirring music and dance, its attention to the relationship between humans and gods, its accompanying belief in a natural supernaturalism and its clear moral vision, Gobel’s production of “The Brothers Size” comes closer to capturing the spirit of these great plays than many productions I’ve seen of actual Greek plays.  Gobel has long held (and consistently practiced) the view that championing diversity in theater means, in part, cultivating a better understanding of how the Western canon belongs to everyone.  Once again, here, she walks as well as she talks. 

A play for everyone: Consistent with that vision, the woman who once memorably (and wonderfully) played Blanche DuBois in a reading ensures that “The Brothers Size” does not get marginalized as a black play.  Yes: This production unapologetically and rightly offers an exploration of what it means to be a black man in America.  Yes: Gobel’s design team never lets us forget that we’re in a city, with a set that would fit right in on Milwaukee’s north side.  And yes: this production celebrates the Yoruba heritage while underscoring that black is beautiful. 

But in this and in all of her work, Gobel is an unapologetic humanist; her work consistently challenges us to see what we share rather than focusing on all the ways we’re divided.  That doesn’t mean erasing difference.  Ever.  But it does mean fostering a conversation in which we learn from one another and our differences as we seek common ground.  Gobel cultivates empathy.  Always.  Or as Ogun says of his younger brother: “You kind to everybody, you give everybody a chance.”  Gobel’s stage generously includes all the world, ensuring everyone is welcome.         

Director Gobel: I’ve spilled a lot of ink over the years praising Gobel’s performances as an actor.  It’s in that context, and with great respect for her work on stage, that I’ll advance the proposition that she’ll be even better remembered someday as a director. 

All the usual caveats regarding the unknown future apply; at this point, Gobel’s volume of work as an actor dwarfs the more modest portfolio she’s assembled as a director.  But attention must be paid to her bold and ingenious choices.  Her uncannily good line readings.  The growing cadre of actors and designers, many of color, who regularly work with her and grow alongside her – in a city that doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to nurturing and then retaining artists of color.  Her ability, honed during the years she spent running UPROOTED Theatre on a shoestring, to work within Milwaukee’s comparatively modest design budgets.  And her excellent taste; Gobel has a poet’s sense of language, and she’s attracted to playwrights and productions that feature it.  We are incredibly lucky that this extraordinary artist makes her home in Milwaukee.

Tarell Alvin McCraney and “Marcus”: Somehow, Milwaukee has still only seen two productions – both directed by Gobel – of work featuring the man who critics regularly and rightly praise as one of the most exciting American playwrights of his generation. 

The first production – featuring the first piece in a triptych McCraney titled “The Brother/Sister Plays” – was a collaboration between Gobel’s UPROOTED Theatre and Marquette University; it was terrific, landing on my top ten list of best plays seen anywhere in Wisconsin in 2014.

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“The Brothers Size” is the second piece of McCraney’s triptych (not to worry if you haven’t seen the first; while the three plays are related and share characters, they stand on their own).

“Marcus” – a coming-of-age story involving a 16-year-old searching to recover the meaning of his dead father while questioning his own sexuality – is the third.  Lucky us: Gobel is directing a reading of “Marcus” on the set of “The Brothers Size,” featuring “The Brothers Size” cast as well as Gobel and two of her acting offspring (Jamaica and Freedom), Lachrisa Grandberry and James Carrington. It begins at 7:30 on March 12; the suggested donation is $12.  See you there.