Tarell Alvin McCraney
Playwright Biography
Born in 1980 in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, FL
Attended New World School of the Arts for high school, YoungArts, before attending the Theatre School at Depaul for his BFA in Acting, and ultimately the Yale Drama School for his MFA in playwriting
2007 winner of the Paula Vogel Award
International playwright in residence at the RSC (2009-2011) where he also directed Antony and Cleopatra
2009 winner of the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award for The Brothers Size
2013 recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant
Company member at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, 7 year playwriting residency at New Dramatists in NY, and company member at Teo Castellanos/D-Projects in Miami
Will head the playwriting program at the Yale Drama School starting July, 2017
Oscar winner for Moonlight (2017)
Highlighted play: The Brothers Size
The Brothers Size (2010)
Synopsis
The play begins sometime after In the Red and Brown Water, also set in San Pere, LA also in the distant present, and follows the stories of Ogun and Ochoosi Size. Ogun is a mechanic whose brother Ochoosi has recently been released from prison. The Brothers SIze follows the relationship between Ogun, who fears his younger brother will get himself into trouble that will land him back in the penitentiary, and Ochoosi seeks to enjoy his newfound freedom without the harsh scrutiny of his older brother. Elegba, a friend of Ochoosi’s on the inside and a man that Ogun has a history with from In the Red and Brown Water reappears, offering Ochoosi kinship, perhaps romance, and a car. Ochoosi is haunted by dreams of what happened in prison, and yearns to explore his newfound freedom (within the parameters of his probation) and venture into the fecundity of the world, but that is immediately halted when he and Elegba are stopped by the police while driving, and there is a pound of cocaine in the trunk- and Ochoosi sprints away. Ogun, after a vitriolic rant about the ways in which his little brother continues to disappoint him, gives Ochoosi his life’s savings, his truck, and tells him to flee San Pere before the police arrive.
Where this play might be used in educational settings:
This play can be used in applied settings and within anti-racism work to discuss the impacts of mass incarceration on the Black family, unpack ideas of Black masculinity and vulnerability, and queer identities in the Black community. The ideal demographic would be teenagers through adults.
Discussion Questions for The Brothers Size:
- What does this play posit about Black masculinity and the spaces/ways men can be intimate?
- What is the role of masculinity in this play?
- How do we encourage a critical sociological lens when discussing plays?
- How is realism distinct from cliches?
- To what extent do marginalized peoples in the US have free-will? To what extent are aspects of their lives predetermined?
Sample Activity
The Brothers Size could be a great way to discuss internal/external conflicts as it relates to each of the characters. The divide the group and give them each a character to explore their conflicts: character v. character, character v. society, character v. self. As a group, discuss the overlaps in conflict. Participants should also find lines that that describe what they say about themselves, and what others say about them as a means of character development. These lines can also be used as a means to deconstruct themes of incarceration, freedom, intimacy, isolation, and home.
A note on the Yoruba Cosmology in The Brothers Size
Annotation of the other two plays in McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays Trilogy (2010)
In the Red and Brown Water
Synopsis
Oya is a former high school track star who instead of attending college on a scholarship stays home to care for her mother, Mama Moja, who is terminally ill. Utilizing the same Yoruban cosmology, poetic speaking, and magical realism, the story is set in San Pere, Louisiana in the distant present. Oya, following the death of her mother attempts to enroll only to find out the offer no longer stands. Oya is the object of affection of two men, Elegba and Ogun, but chooses to pursue a deeply passionate romance with Shango. She falls madly in love with him, only to find that he has impregnated Shun, while Oya herself is incapable of bearing children. Out of love for Shango, at the climax of the play, she cuts off her ear and presents it to him stating “I do this in remembrance of you..I wished I could make part of me to give you but I had to take what’s already there,” ( McCraney, 2010, pp. 123-4).
Where this play might be used in educational settings:
This play can be used in applied settings to discuss gender roles for women of color, the effects of the male gaze on impoverished women, and in discussions on how grief impacts decision making. Ideally the population for programming surrounding these topics would be high school/young adult women, but there could be great benefit to including women of all ages to engage in discourse about intersectional feminism unpacking the issues faced specifically by women of color.
Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet
Synopsis
The final play in the trilogy, set in San Pere, LA and the only one that has a specific time, late August, in which it is set. The story follows Marcus, the 16 year old son of Oba and Elegba and happens days before Hurricane Katrina. Marcus’s best friends are Osha, daughter of Shun and Shango, and Shaunta, daughter of Nia. Osha seeks a romantic relationship with Marcus, who is grappling with his burgeoning homosexuality. Marcus has a secret, which the outside presume to be the fact that he is “sweet” colloquial for gay, but it is actually that he has clairvoyance and can dream the future. Marcus meets Ogun, who confides in him that Marcus reminds him of Elegba, something that Shun mentions as in a hurtful manner pointing at Elegba’s queerness, and Ogun says that he reminds him of Ochoosi as well. Marcus kisses Ogun, and gossip spreads about that to Osha, who becomes enraged. Marcus meets a smooth, handsome stranger named Shua and engages in a sexual act only to realize later that Shua is Osha’s new boyfriend.
The ghost of Ochoosi Size appears in Marcus’s dreams, with lots of rain signifying the impending storm. Marcus tells Ogun of his dreams, and realizes that his brother, had died after seeing “all the world [he] could see” (McCraney, 2010, p.360)
Where this play might be used in educational settings:
This play would be ideal to use in applied settings where the focus is on generating problem-posing discourse with queer youth of color, as it explores isolation, bullying, and coming of age.
List of Plays:
Head of Passes (2016)
Choir Boy (2012)
In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue (2011)
American Trade: An Adaptation of Hamlet (2011)
Run Mourner Run (2010)
Wig Out: A play for the KIDZ (2008)
Without/Sin (2005)
Bibliography/ Additional Resources:
Alexander, M. (2011). The New Jim Crow. Ohio St. J. Crim.
Anderson, T.(2016). Before the buzz began on 'Moonlight,' the coming-of-age story started with
playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. LA Times. Retrieved from:
Barone, J. (2016). Tarell Alvin McCraney to head playwriting program at Yale. New York Times.
Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/theater/tarell-alvin-mccraney-to-head-playwriting-program-at-yale.html
Brantley, B. (2009). Trilogy by Tarell Alvin McCraney has the realism of dreams.New York Times.
Retrieved from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/theater/reviews/18brother.html
Coates, T. (2017). The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration.
Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/10/the-black-family-in-the-age-of-mass-incarceration/403246/#Chapter%20VIII
DeGruy, J. (2005). Post traumatic slave syndrome. Joy DeGruy. RSS.
Ensemble. Retrieved from:
https://www.steppenwolf.org/ensemble/member-pages/tarell-alvin-mccraney/
Hooks, B. (2000). All about love: New visions. William Morrow.
Gener, R. (2009). Dreaming in Yoruba. American Theatre.
Gates, A. (2009, May 09). Of Love and Loss, Success and Defeat, and Bad Timing. New York
Times.
Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/nyregion/new-jersey/10theatnj.html
Hunter, A. G., & Davis, J. E. (1994). Hidden Voices Black Men: The Meaning, Structure, and
Complexity of Manhood. Journal of Black Studies,25(1), 20-40.
Jung, E. A. (2016). Moonlight's Tarell Alvin McCraney on Writing the Original Source Material, Taking
Inspiration From Myths, and Creating Heroes With Black Skin. Vulture.
Retrieved from: http://www.vulture.com/2016/11/tarell-alvin-mccraney-on-writing-moonlight.html
McCraney, T. A. (2010). The brother/sister plays. Theatre Communications Group.
N'Duka, A. (2017). Tarell Alvin McCraney On ‘Moonlight’s Message: “I Think People Were Hungry For That”. Deadline.
Retrieved from:
Tarell Alvin McCraney. Retrieved from:
http://newdramatists.org/tarell-alvin-mccraney
M. (2009, April 07). Tarell Alvin McCraney: On Language. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz7jeSydzes
W. (2008, September 11). The Brothers Size. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAPnQSJKFHs
Web page compiled by Jessica Dean Turner (2017)