My Journey with The Brother/Sister Plays
Posted by Rodrick Covington on 2/25/2010
(Rodrick plays Shango and Shua in The Brother/Sister Plays)
I remember meeting Tarell in NY three years ago, before I had ever heard of The Brother/Sister Plays. We met through one of my closest friends and hung out in NY until five in the morning. We had the best time, exchanged numbers, and committed to keeping in touch. When I got the script for In the Red and Brown Water two weeks later, I had no idea that the man I had met was the playwright. I read the script and I cried. I told my mom before the audition, “I have to do this play! It’s a part of how I was raised. It’s a part of who I am.” Both Tarell and I are from Florida; I’m from Polk County, FL, where it’s just as country and swampy as San Pére. I had no idea that the script I was so in love with was by this tall, beautiful black brother who I had hung out with two weeks prior until I stepped into the audition room. I cannot even express to you the peace and joy that came over my spirit when I saw him in the room, not to mention that auditioning for Tina Landau was a treat in and of itself. Three months later, I was in Atlanta at the Alliance Theatre with Tina and Tarell, working on In the Red and Brown Water.
It is such a blessing and honor to be working with Tina and Tarell at Steppenwolf on the entire Brother/Sister trilogy. When Tarell speaks, it is like listening to a gentle, young genius, and yet also a wise old soul. My favorite playwrights have always been authors like August Wilson, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Stephen Adly Guirgus, Clifford Odets, Samuel Beckett, William Shakespeare, and Lorraine Hansberry: people that are either a generation older than me or who have gone on to be with the Father. But, Tarell McCraney is 11 months (to be exact) younger than I. And not only is he one of my favorite playwrights, he is a friend and a man with great integrity. He has a gift.
And working with Tina Landau has changed my life! She works differently than any other director that I’ve encountered. My mom had 19 kids and Tina actually reminds me of my mother in a way: she makes every actor feel like they are her favorite. Her passion for her work is contagious, she sees actors’ limitations and empowers us to be limitless. She makes the impossible possible.
This is my favorite work thus far in my artistic journey. I’m so thrilled to share this journey with the Steppenwolf. Thank you for reading.
March 14th, 2010 at 7:26 am
I was very moved by everyone’s performance in this play. Thanks for giving me a glimpse of what it was like for you.
March 17th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Nothing leadens my bowels like the prospect of “poetic drama” for a whole evening but attending the 3/16 performance of IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER did no such thing. The experience was a refreshing slap-to-the-face similar, for a reason I can’t define, to Romare Bearden collages. I look forward to seeing the other plays and to taking my knowledge of Yoruba culture past the wiki-stage.
I particularly admired the way theatrical types were transformed, in lightening-flashes of talent, into living, breathing, earthy individuals — then raised to a higher power by the interplay of dialogue, emotion, gesture, movement, dance, lyric, music. All with a speed that never leaves one confused — and with the humor, sex, and personality of a truly astonishing ensemble. One might attend another performance, ignore the foreground actors, concentrate on the background actors, and discover a whole new play.
McCraney is a playwright — a “wright” being someone who makes, who constructs, as he does in all aspects of his play. Even the “Vincent” flourish at the end convinces because the playwright has carefully and properly put all the pieces together. Thanks to him and all involved in this Steppenwolf marvel.
March 17th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Annie, I’m so glad you enjoyed the performance. I agree–I feel quite proud to be working in support of that extraordinary company of actors.
Joe, what a beautiful description of your experience. Thank you for taking the time to share what the plays meant to you. We’re so glad you were able to join us.
March 28th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Hearing this story of you coming to play the role of Shango adds another dimension to the mystical quality of these plays…how they draw you in and take you on a journey. I have enjoyed watching, listening, and talking about these plays immensely. Understanding how you came to this play helps me understand your deep passion and contagious joy I’ve witnessed during the run of the Brother/Sister. Thanks for sharing…
April 7th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
This was the most powerful show I’ve ever seen. Art is always more powerful if it cracks open the world in a new way. As a theater major at Northwestern University, I have seen a lot of “famous” plays that the students put on here. Brothers Size is, in my opinion, so much greater than some of the “classics” that I have seen here. Is there any way to write the Tarell a letter/e-mail?