The Brothers Size

The Brothers Size is the second play in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy. The play follows Ogun Size (who appears in the first play titled In the Red and Brown Water), his brother Oshoosi Size, and Oshoosi’s friend Elegba (who is also a character in In The Red and Brown Water). Oshoosi has just been released from jail and is staying with his older brother Ogun. Ogun sees that Oshoosi is lost and wants to help his brother acclimate to life outside prison, so he gives Oshoosi a job at his mechanics shop. Oshoosi is a dreamer and more than a job he desires a car so he can drive away from his hometown of San Pere, Louisiana and start fresh with his freedom. Oshoosi’s friend Elegba, who was in prison with him, always comes around to hang out with Oshoosi, and Ogun thinks he’s bad news. Elegba implies that he and Oshoosi were lovers in prison, and it seems like Elegba is in love with Oshoosi. When Elegba gets Oshoosi a car (it’s unclear if he stole it), Oshoosi is ecstatic to finally have some freedom, and they take the car out for a ride. Unbeknownst to Oshoosi, Elegba has cocaine in his bag, and they get pulled over by the police. The cops find the drugs and Oshoosi flees the scene, running straight to his brother Ogun for guidance. Ogun helps Oshoosi skip town in his car and tells him he’ll cover for him. Tarell Alvin McCraney wrote The Brother/Sister Plays as a dedication to his black brothers and sisters. All three plays are about relationships and their complexities, and The Brothers Size is specifically about the bond of brotherhood.