The Selma Arts Center play series Diaspora Dreams, is off to a strong start with this production of The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney. In the play we follow Ogun (Wade Pierson) and Oshoosi (Ebon Christian) Size, two brothers with extremely different dispositions. Oshoosi just got out of prison, while Elegba (Veron L. Jones III), one of his former cellmates, is there to tempt Oshoosi. The push and pull Oshoosi is feeling from Ogun and Elegba is central to the play; but it’s not what I remember the most. The strong performances and direction are what stay in my memory more than the plot. Pierson, in one of my favorite roles I have seen him in, is seamlessly assertive and caring towards his indignant brother; while naturally finding the humor and genuine connection in the piece.

The word that kept coming back to me was “distilled”. Everything in the production was refined to the essentials, and wasn’t distracted with adding unnecessary fluff. Director Joshua Slack created a focused piece of theatre, that kept me enthralled the whole time.

The clearest examples of this distilled natured, is the staging of the piece. The actors often speak their stage directions out loud, in tandem with the action. While this is part of the script itself, Slack fully embraced this aspect of the play, and kept the focus on the performers. Time never felt wasted during the play, and I can’t think of any moments I wish were handled differently.

The technical elements are equally focused. The costumes by Sofia James, are just jumpsuits, styled differently for each character. What I loved about it was Ogun and Oshoosi wore black and blue respectively, but under certain lights they looked the same, while Elegba had a fierce red that stood out. While looking online into the Yoruba figures the characters names come from, I noticed each character was wearing a color associated with them (which may be a coincidence but it’s clear the production team did their research). Other parts, such as the lighting design by Glenda Stewart leaned on simplicity, having big washes of red or blue fill the stage, especially during the dream-like sequences, but for this production the simplicity felt very effective. I don’t think more grandeur would’ve enhanced what was already conveyed through the lights.

Overall, this is a piece of theatre that is going to live in my mind a long time, and you should definitely be on the lookout for “In the Red and Brown Water”, coming to the Arts Center later this year. Tickets will be found at https://www.selmaartscenter.com