Yoruba mythology down in the bayou
The three plays of Terrell Alvin McCraney’s epic cycle, “The Brother/Sister Plays,” are all set in the current-day Louisiana bayou, and they all chronicle black communities whose members’ names and stories parallel those in the Yoruba mythology of Nigeria and West Africa — a choice that elevates a group of people society usually given short shrift.
The play “The Brothers Size,” which opens at LGBT company Theatre Rhinoceros this week, is the most scaled-down script in the trilogy. It follows just three characters: Ogun (Lakeidrick S. Wimberly) is a diligent mechanic; he gets his name from the deity associated with metallurgy. His brother Oshooshi (Gabriel Christian) is an ex-con on less sure footing, and Oshooshi’s friend Elegba ( Julian Green), a troublemaker, is named after Yoruba’s trickster deity.
Darryl V. Jones directs.