Stage Movement Play Review

In the Red and Brown Water Movement Review

            On March 13^th, 2015 I saw In the Red and Brown Water at Curious Theatre Company. It was required to see for our stage directing class, but it is a great play to analyze movement for. The play itself is based on Yoruba orisha and culture so the movement and language are catered towards that tradition.

            The play is about Oya, a senior in high school who is a track star trying to make a legacy for herself. There are several conflicts in the way of course, and Oya ends up being trapped at home and doesn’t go to school for track. Something that I noticed about the scene transitions of this play was that they were very dance influenced. Instead of just walking on and off the stage, characters would dance off while chanting or humming. This was a nod towards the Yoruba performance traditions. It was very important to make sure that was present throughout the play.

            There is a track meet in the play that Oya races in. And I thought the way the race was staged was very clever. The spectators were off to the side stomping their feet in rhythm while Oya was running in slow motion. When she got to the edge of the stage, everything had gone back to normal time and everyone cheered because she had won. I thought it was staged perfectly, it’s not normal to have to stage a track meet, but the thought and movement that was put into it was great.

            Along with the scene transitions, the actors themselves had very big movements and gestures. This is a part of storytelling tradition in the Yoruban culture. And the characters even spoke their stage directions which was a choice made by the playwright. Sometimes they did the gesture as they were saying the stage direction and other times they said the stage direction and then did the gesture for added emphasis.

            Overall, the vision of this play was put together very well; the movement was fluid and graceful. Each actor was aware of their space and how their body moved which made it perfectly choreographed and executed in a specific manor. I really enjoyed this show and the movement made a huge impact on the story that was being told and the subtext and underlying message of the play.