Tarrell Alvin McCraney Pits Yoruba Gods vs. Louisiana Taboos

by Corey Finnegan

There’s no shortage of stories about dysfunctional couples and parent-child disasters, but not many stories about the fraught, complicated love between two hard-headed brothers.

“The Brothers Size” evokes Yoruba mythology with names, dance, and poetic allusions that raise the brothers’ expectations beyond their Louisiana bayou.

Watching Tarrell Alvin McRaney’s “The Brothers Size” at African-American Shakespeare Company, I was reminded of two brothers in my family. One of them, like McCraney’s Oshoosi Size, is a freeloader fresh out of prison. The other brother, like Ogun Size is a hyper-critical hard ass who wants his brother to get a job. My cousins play both roles, depending on which one has a job, and which one just got out of the slammer.

As in McCraney’s Academy Award-winning Moonlight, the protagonists of “The Brothers Size” struggle to survive in a world where the odds are stacked against them by poverty, racism and family dysfunction. Although they live under one roof, mutual resentment keeps them apart.

As Ogun, Moore channels the frustrations of anyone who has tried to help a loved one with a penchant for self-destruction. Yet Ogun’s inability to forgive his brother mirrors the way our society often treats ex-prisoners. Though Oshoosi has done penance for his crime, he cannot escape the shadow of suspicion, guilt, and resentment.

Oshoosi is intent on savoring his newfound freedom. But Ogun worries that his brother’s offhand work ethic and lack of direction is a recipe for recidivism. His worries crystallize around Oshoosi’s former cellmate Elegba (Brandon Milligan), who envies the brothers’ bond. He tempts Oshoosi with seductive memories of their prison life together.

McCraney’s script defies convention by having the actors read the play’s stage directions out loud, leading to some confusion.

Director James Mercer II’s production has many strengths, chiefly an interesting script and solid acting by the two leads. And it avoids easy cynicism and pat answers. “The Brothers Size” offers a spiritual link between Yoruba deities and the lives of Black men in America today.

 

“The Brothers Size” by Tarell Alvin McCraney, directed by James Mercer II, by African-American Shakespeare Company, San Francisco.

Info: african-americanshakes.org – to November 1, 2026.

Cast: Gary Moore, Judge Cantrell, and Brandon Dean Milligan.

Banner photo: Judge Cantrell & Gary Moore. Photos: Joseph Giammarco