In the Red and Brown Water : By Tarell McCraney

  

The performance In Red and Brown Water was a story about a talented runner named Oya. Many obstacles were placed in her way in order to redirect her from achieving her dreams. She was offered a scholarship in order to run in college, but she declined the offer because she wanted to stay home and take care of her mother, who was extremely ill. Eventually time passed and her mother passed away. After her mother death it seemed like the little fire left in Oya died also. Symbolism is displayed many time throughout Oya life. For example when she is running her life seems to be on track but once she stops it all falls apart. She also falls in love with thing that she can’t have. She falls in love with an unfaithful man who is taken away from her because he is fighting in the war. Everything that Oya loves is taken away from her.

I think that the tribal music was the most compelling thing about the performance. The music played as the narrator of the story. By the different tempos you could almost predict what was going to happen next. The audience was aware of when something bad was about to happen. The music helped to build suspense throughout the play.

Oya decision making was the most compelling parts in the play. For example she invested her time in things that she couldn’t have. She fell in love with Shango who was actually unfaithful. He actually got another girl pregnant. I think that she was down so down for so long that she didn’t think that she could do any better. Many times throughout the performance we see that Oya looses hope. I think that once opportunity was there she wasn’t ready but when she was in need it didn’t come.

The only thing that I didn’t understand by watching this show was where exactly did this show take place. When I first saw it I thought maybe it was in Africa because of all the tribal music. Otherwise it was not that hard to follow.

This was not my first time seeing a live theater performance. This performance ended up being better than I thought. I felt like it kept the audiences attention and it was realistic. The performance shows that based on your decision obstacles in your life can change for the good or the bad. In Red and Brown Water it shows us that everything may go wrong at onetime but life goes on and it is your choice to recover or not. As long as you maintain hope there is always away.