“In the Red and
Brown Water” is a play about a girl named Oya and her struggles on becoming a
young woman. Oya has many things going for her such as being a high school
track star with the potential to take her talents to a state university on a
scholarship as well as having many guys wishing they could date her. However,
Oya is most concerned with helping her ill mother, Mama Moja. Mama Moja
eventually passes away and Oya is devastated. Oya’s godmother becomes the new
mother figure in her life and helps her realize that her education is more
important than chasing Elegba, Ogun, or Shango. However, she ends up having
Ogun move in with her because the track scholarship is no longer there for her
which really upsets her on top of her mother passing away. She ends up having
an affair with Shango and the fact that she has to decide which one of these
men she would rather see more becomes Oya’s biggest problem throughout the
play.
In my opinion,
the most important thing that happened to Oya was death of her mother, Mama
Moja. It was a devastating loss for Oya and stopped her from taking the track
scholarship she was offered. Instead she became focused on trying to find a man
she could start a family with. Had it not been for Mama Moja’s death, Oya
probably would have became a very successful runner and received a great
education.
Ogun had the most
compelling performance in the play. I was impressed how he overcame his
problems such as stuttering and wanting to be with Oya. Originally, Oya wanted
nothing to do with him but he ended up moving in with her and fixed his
stuttering problem. I was happy for him because it is always nice to see people
persevere and overcome their struggles.
I thought the
play was kind of hard to follow sometimes. For the most part, it was
straightforward, but during certain scenes I found myself somewhat confused on
what was going on. For example, there was not much detail about her track
career. Also, I don’t understand why Oya cut her ear off at the end. I
understand she was going through many difficulties, but it seemed a little
excessive.
This was not my
first time seeing a live theater performance. I have seen a few Broadway
performances which were amazing so this play did not really meet my
expectations. I thought this play was decent but I found myself feeling
confused too many times. For that reason, I would not recommend this play to
others, even though I am not a big theatergoer.
