In the Red and Brown Water was about a girl named Oya who had two men fall for her. One was Shango, the one that she loved, and the other was Ogun, who Oya settled for. Throughout the play, you can tell that Oya is madly in love with Shango, but Shango didn't want to just settle for her, even though he loved her back. He always found other women, and eventually went into the military. When he went into the military, Oya decided that the love of Ogun would be enough to keep her happy. Throughout the story, Shango comes in and out, and Oya always wants to be with him. By the end of the play, Oya, who wants a child but cannot have one, finds out that Shango has gotten someone else pregnant. In her despair, she cuts off her ear and gives it to him. The play then goes into a song and ends.
I think that the most important thing about Oya's journey was that she settled for Ogun, even though she loved Shango. She didn't love Ogun, but she wanted love badly enough that she would stay with him even if she loved someone else. I think this was a bad mistake on her part; if she had just found someone entirely different than Shango or Ogun, she could have been happy, maybe had a child, and kept her ear. But I suppose this is just how the story goes. She never really achieved true happiness, since she was left with neither Ogun (who she had eventually ended things with) nor Shango (who had gotten someone else pregnant), and had no child, what she wanted the entire play.
During the performance, I was compelled most by the performance of Aunt Elegua, the godmother of Oya. My roommate who was on the stage crew of this show told me that behind stage she was very quiet and polite; whereas on stage she was powerful and took control of the stage. I find this to be amazing; from her performance I'd believe that she was always outgoing and funny. I was impressed by her performance to begin with, but as soon as my roommate told me this, I was even more blown away.
I absolutely loved this show, maybe just because I'm a theater/ musical person. However, I do have a few critiques. First of all, it was very crude at points. It was funny and necessary at some parts of the show, but I think they went overboard with it a lot. They said words in there that I wouldn't even say during every day life, let alone on stage. The other major critique that I have was only something that I have because my roommate was on the stage crew. She told me after the play that there was a huge underlying message within the story line that was never once mentioned by anyone at the show: the characters were all African gods, and everything in the story was based on African mythology. How was I supposed to know this? How was anyone supposed to know this? Every single character in the play was some sort of god, and their personality int the play was based upon which god or goddess they were. Oya, for instance, was the goddess of the wind. This is why she "ran like the wind", or was referenced to the wind at other parts. She and the woman that Shango got pregnant were both actually married to Shango in the African mythology. The two were both very jealous of each other. When the other wife got pregnant, Oya was desperate to get the love of Shango over the other wife. The pregnant wife found out about her desperation, and told her that if she cut off a part of her ear and gave it to Shango in his soup, he'd fall in love with her and she'd be able to produce a child for him as well. However, this was completely untrue; if she did this he would stop loving her. This is why, after she gives him her ear at the end of the play, he just walks away without trying to help her. If all of this had been in the program, I think I could have understood and enjoyed the show a bit more.
I have seen a countless amount of live shows, and I've been in a few as well, and this was definitely... different than any other I've seen. I really liked it though. I was expecting more music and singing, but I think that the amount that they had was perfect for the show. They had just enough to enhance the overall show, but not so much that it became a musical. Even though it was somewhat strange at parts, I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is interested, and I will be seeing the rest of the trilogy.
