Blog Journal #5: In the Red and Brown Water

The name of the main character in the play "In the Red and Brown Water" is Oya. At Penn State's Playhouse Theatre Oya was played by Dre Parker. The entire play focuses on Oya and her issues as she turns into a young woman showing her many struggles and decisions that need to be made. Oya is a high school track star who gives up an amazing offer of going to college on a scholarship to run in order to stay home and take care of her ill mother, Mama Moja. Plenty of boys wish for Oya to be theirs throughout the play including her neighbor Elegba, Ogun who has a stuttering problem and Shango who eventually becomes a soldier. After Mama Moja passes, Oya's godmother, Elegua, visits frequently and reminds her of how important her education is and that she should not be so wrapped up in finding a man. When Oya returns to tell the Man from State that she is ready to accept her scholarship now he breaks her the news that it is no longer there as an option for her and that he is sorry. This upsets Oya and she next agrees for Ogun to move in with her hoping to start a family, which is the complete opposite of what Elegba just recommended. She is clearly not happy with Ogun, however, so when Shango returns from fighting they have an affair. Neither boy can seem to get Oya pregnant for some odd reason. She withdraws herself and tells Ogun it is time for him to move on and find someone better for him. Soon after Oya finds out that a mean young woman named Shun is pregnant with Shango's baby. She goes inside her house to get a congratulations gift for Shango and returns bleeding as she hands him her ear that she just removed herself. 

What struck me as the most important thing about the story for Oya was the early death of her mother. I believe that if Mama Moja was not sick and getting ready to pass away Oya would have taken the scholarship to run, gone to college, not have worried over finding a man to have a baby with and not have gotten depressed. Mama Moja’s death pretty much determined the outcome of the rest of Oya’s life. Oya never ended up achieving what she originally set out to which was to be a top runner. Instead, she totally dropped running as a whole.

I was the most compelled by Ogun in the performance because he knew from the start that he wanted to be with Oya and did not give up on this. Although she wanted nothing to do with him in the beginning he was the one who ended up moving in with her later on in the play. He did his best to fix his problem of stuttering and was able to accomplish it just for her.

I cannot think of any critiques of the performance because I felt that it was excellent and enjoyed it very much. This was not my first time seeing a live theater performance either so I do have some experience. I have seen multiple other plays in New York City before. I think that this performance was not quite as good as those that I have seen in NYC but it did, impressively, come pretty close because the NYC plays are Broadway shows performed by all professionals.