In the Red and Brown Water is the
story of a young woman named Oya who is a gifted runner that gives up a
scholarship to stay home with her mother, Mama Moja. Oya denies the scholarship because she needs
to take care of her ill mother. Mama
Moja unfortunately passes away, leaving Oya all alone in the world to figure
out all her problems. This is the beginning
of her downward spiral; losing her spot on the track team, taking a few lovers
and physically and mentally draining herself.
Her main problem throughout the play is she is caught in the midst of a
sexual and love filled relationship with two different men, Shango and
Ogun. She must decide between these two
men who she wants to continue to see.
The most
important event throughout the entirety of the play is when Oya denies the
scholarship from the “man from state”.
She makes this decision with good intentions; to help her mother out,
while still believing and working for her dream to run track in college. Ultimately, she gets caught up in a love
triangle after her mother’s death, which put a mental and physical toll on her. When she finally makes a decision on her
multiple relationships, she finds herself very unhappy with her decision to
continue dating Ogun. Oya ultimately
fails in her attempt of running in college and achieving happiness with another
man in life. This play was definitely a
tragedy about the life of a woman who took a few wrong turns in her decision
making.
I
personally feel that the most compelling performance is by Ogun. Ogun starts out as a sort of ‘underdog’ with
his stuttering problem. He works hard to
fix it and more importantly, gives all of himself to be with Oya. Throughout
the play you can see the progression of Ogun moving from a scared child to a
confident, grown man. It is always
inspiring to see someone dedicate all of themselves to achieving something,
while growing as a person at the same time.
My biggest
critique of the play is that it was hard to follow at times. For example, from other versions of the play
and what was written in the packet about the play, it seemed like there was a
bigger emphasis on Oya’s track career, while in this one, there was not much
detail about it. Also, the ending of the
play was abrupt and confusing. I thought
it was a little too extreme that Oya would actually cut her ear off, no matter
how crazy she is going.
This was
not my first time going to see a live play.
I have seen a few high school plays along with a few professional Broadway
performances too. I am not a musical,
play or live performance fan by any means.
Most of the plays I went to was just to support friends who were in the
play or because my parents forced me to go.
This play did not really keep my attention for too long and I kept
finding myself confused throughout it. I
would not recommend others to see this play because of the confusing plot and
odd plot.
