Brother/Sister Plays

When Tarell Alvin McCraney's play "The Brothers Size" opened at the Public Theater in 2007, The New York Times told readers, "Listen closely, and you might hear that thrilling sound that is one of the main reasons we go to the theater, that beautiful music of a new voice." McCraney was 26-years-old and in his third year at the Yale School of Drama at the time.

Now a Hodder Fellow at the University's Lewis Center for the Arts and the Royal Shakespeare Company's international playwright-in-residence, McCraney won't be a new voice for much longer. McCarter Theater, in conjunction with the Public, is staging "The Brothers Size" and its two accompanying plays in repertory over the next few weeks.

Opening on Friday, "In the Red and Brown Water" follows Oya, a young track star, as she grows into womanhood and deals with her mother's illness. Influenced by Federico Garcia Lorca, August Wilson and Alvin Ailey, the trilogy also draws on Yoruba religious traditions, re-imagining these ancient spirits within a modern context.

But the plays are influenced just as much by McCraney's own life and his experiences growing up in Miami in the '80's as a black, gay man, with a brother in prison and a parent with a drug adiction. Writing on the McCarter blog, McCraney notes that he wrote "In Red and Brown Water" for his younger sister, who lived at home as their mother died of AIDs-related complications. McCraney will be missing his play's opening night to attend his sister's graduation - what's your excuse?

Berlind Theatre

"In Red and Brown Water"

Through June 21

"The Brothers Size" and "Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet"