Marti Gobel will direct and design costumes for In the Red and Brown Water, an upcoming collaboration between Marquette University Theatre and UPROOTED Theatre. “Nothing like this has been seen in Milwaukee,” says Gobel. “The play is groundbreaking in its structure and its message.”
Part of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy, In the Red and Brown Water tells the story of Oya, a local track star in a fictional New Orleans housing project who decides to turn down a scholarship to stay with her dying mother. Three men then offer her their own particular kind of comfort, which leads to an emotional unraveling for Oya.
Gobel explains that the play is based primarily on the Yoruba spiritual traditions and “speaks to the gods and goddesses in all of us, encourages the notion that sometimes we control our destiny through the spirit world but can be just as affected when the spirit world walks among us.” Oya specifically is the African goddess of wind—“she breathes and often screams; she is the air.”
The cast includes 24 students and professional actors Ericka Wade and Ken Williams, as well as local African drummer Lucky Diop, who will provide the sound for the play.
“UPROOTED Theatre is currently the highest producing African American theater in Wisconsin,” Gobel says. “The efforts of Marquette to connect theater students to our organization have created long-lasting ties for their students of color to the professional theater community. This collaboration has been everything that I wanted it to be: a way for UPROOTEED to keep its finger on the pulse of up-and-coming artists and an experience driven by our shared belief that theater is a great binder and necessary for the development of society.”
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In the Red and Brown Water runs Nov. 6-16 at Marquette University’s Helfaer Theatre, 525 N. 13th St. For tickets, call 414-288-7504 or visit showclix.com/events/marquettetheatre or uprootedmke.com. UPROOTED Theatre plans to do a hybrid staged reading of the second play in The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy, and also hopes to stage an off-season production of the third installment in 2015.
Theatre Happenings:
■ Comedic drag duo, the Calamari Sisters, come to the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (929 N. Water St.) Oct. 29-Nov. 2 with their show, Cooking with the Calamari Sisters. Full of song and dance, this production focuses on the ladies’ attempt to produce the final broadcast of their public access cable cooking show. For tickets, 414-273-7206 or visit marcuscenter.org.
■ Pink Banana Theatre presents Any Given Monday by Bruce Graham Nov. 6-15 at the Underground Collaborative, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. Directed by Matt Kemple, the show centers on Lenny after his wife leaves him for a Walmart-building cad. For tickets, visit pinkbananamke.org.
■ Cream City Theater presents a staged reading of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh Nov. 7-15. This drama gives voice to several derelicts that enter a 1912 saloon to talk about their lives and lost dreams. The show takes place at Inspiration Studios, 1500 S. 73rd St.; for tickets, call 414-545-8949 or visit creamcitytheater.com.
■ Ken Ludwig’s acclaimed Moon Over Buffalo comes to Soulstice Theatre (3770 S. Pennsylvania Ave., St. Francis) Nov. 7-22. This situational comedy takes us on a romp with actors George and Charlotte Hay as they attempt to impress renowned director Frank Capra. For tickets, call 414-481-2800 or visit soulsticetheatre.org.