In the Red and Brown Water

Comments (0) By Deborah Klugman Thursday, Oct 25 2012

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Fountain Theatre

5060 Fountain Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90029

Category: Music Venues

Region: Out of Town

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Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney sets this music-, dance- and myth-infused work in the "distant present," weaving his story around talented young athlete Oya (Diarra Kilpatrick), who risks her future to care for her ailing mother. The play charts a downhill course for this lovely, open-hearted person: Her mother dies, the prized scholarship goes to someone else and Oya is trapped in the barrio, plagued with passion for an unfaithful lover (Gilbert Glenn Brown) and for the same fulfillment as every other woman in her circumscribed community — a child. It's no accident that Oya's barrenness parallels the predicament in Federico Garcia Lorca's Yerma, or that she bears the name of a Yoruba goddess. McCraney pulls together a confluence of elements — although predominantly Yoruba — to present a visceral fable that rises up from the underbelly of America. Kilpatrick's portrayal embraces every bit of her feisty, soulful character, made more compelling by the intimate performance space. Brown's slick, calibrated womanizer is an aptly fashioned foil and the remaining ensemble is strong. But designer Frederica Nascimento's set, with its pale walls and light wood backdrop, is too tidy and sterile to reflect the play's darkness. Shirley Jo Finney directs. Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., Hlywd.; Thurs.-Sun.; through Feb. 24. (323) 663-1525, fountaintheatre.com.
Thursdays-Sundays; Thursdays-Sundays. Starts: Oct. 20. Continues through Feb. 24, 2012