THE BROTHERS SIZE (2019)

by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Monty Cole
October 2 - October 19, 2019
Steppenwolf Theatre Company

From Academy Award-winner Tarell Alvin McCraney's acclaimed The Brother/Sister Plays, The Brothers Size returns to our stage for the first time since its celebrated Chicago 2010 premiere. Ogun Size is hardworking and heartbroken. Oshoosi Size is recently returned home from prison and trying to be anywhere but. In this fierce and honest look at the complex bonds of brotherhood, McCraney weaves together poetry, music and Yoruba mythology to magnify the tug-of-war between freedom and the need to belong somewhere, to something, to someone.

Monty says, “This production was a dream come true in a lot of ways. I’ve been a fan of McCraney for a long time and to bring The Brothers Size back to Steppenwolf, specifically for a high school audience, was an honor. I remember when I was a kid, I liked challenging productions from Europe and I knew that we didn’t want to pull any punches because of the audience’s age range. For me, this play is about the impossible task of protecting your loved ones. It’s also about how Black men are trapped in the American system no matter how much they work. Between these two themes, we created a special experience of a production in the exposed Downstairs theatre.”

ENSEMBLE: Manny Buckley (Ogun), Patrick Agada (Oshoosi), Rashaad Hall (Elegba)

PRODUCTION TEAM
Scenic Design: Yu Shibagaki
Lighting Design: Claire Chrzan
Sound Design: Jeffrey Levin
Costume Design: Mieka van der Ploeg
Video Designer: Rashean Davonte Johnson
Movement Director: Breon Arzell
Fight Choreographer: Matt Hawkins

Stage Manager: Michelle Medvin

PRESS AND RECOGNITION

“Combined with a trio of powerfully layered performances — led by up-and-comer Agada, who gets the most sweeping arc here — “The Brothers Size” offers the kind of intro to theater that could make lifelong converts.” - Kris Vire, Chicago Sun Times

“Cole is a director with ideas and ambition and he here gets an expressionistic design from Yu Shibagaki that I think works better than the original setting in 2010. Cole has directed these skilled actors in very nuanced ways — in particular, Agada, who has a sweet optimism about him, shows you the man before prison as much the one that returned, while Buckley’s complex work is infused with the dread born of loving one in constant danger.” - Chris Jones, The Chicago Tribune