Pre- and Post-show Questions for Discussion, Assignments, and Activities

Note to Educators:  Use the first three avenues of inquiry below to prepare your students, as well as to engage their imaginations and creativity, before they experience The Brothers Size in performance.  Then utilize the last two sections to allow students to evaluate their experience of the performance and to encourage their own imaginative and artistic projects.

1. Sibling Rivalries Resolved.  At the heart of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size, is the tense and troubled relationship between two brothers who struggle with a variety of issues and resentments typical to many siblings and families. These struggles include individual/opposite temperaments (e.g., “perfect child” vs. “problem child,”), differing attitudes towards personal and familial responsibilities, and an inability to forgive and forget the past.

• Ask your students if they have encountered similar issues with their own brothers and sisters or in their own families.  Have they been able to openly address and discuss these problems?  If so, how?  What were the outcomes of these discussions?
  
  
• Have your students think of an unaddressed or unresolved tense situation with a sibling or close family member in which individual/opposite temperaments, differing attitudes towards personal and familial responsibilities, or an inability to forgive and forget the past play a part.  Give them the opportunity to script an idealized dialogue between themselves and their family member in which they are able to express their feelings.  If appropriate, students may volunteer their scripts to be read aloud to the class and discussed.

2. Inspirational Exploration.  McCraney’s life and work has been greatly inspired by the Yoruba religion of West Africa and its cosmology and traditions.  While McCraney notes that you do not neeed to know Yoruba mythology to understand his plays he offers, “If you know anything about Yoruba, it will resonate on a different wavelength.”  To deepen the levels of your students’ understanding and appreciation of The Brothers Size, have them research Yoruba, its peoples, and their history, religion(s), and cosmology/cosmogony.  Specific avenues for research include:

• Ile-Ife, the ancient Yoruban city and spiritual and artistic center of the Yoruba people
  
  
• Yoruba Orishas or deities
  [Ogun, Oshoosi, Eshu/Elegba, and Yemoja are of particular significance to The Brothers Size]
  
  
• Yoruba legends
  [The full text of  M. I. Ogumefu’s Yoruba Legends (London:  Sheldon Press, 1929) is available on the internet at
                          http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/yl/index.htm.]
  
• Yoruba in the New World and throughout the African diaspora

3. Ancient Myths and Modern Mythmaking.  A myth or legend can be defined as a traditional, often ancient, narrative that deals with supernatural beings, ancestors or heroes and which serves to explain natural phenomenon; describe the customs, behaviors, ideals or values of a society, culture, or faith system; or provide a foundation for communal identity or solidarity.  A mythology, then, refers to a collection of these types of stories, and can be applied to the narratives of all religions, both those that are widely practiced and those no longer practiced. For example, one can refer to a Yoruba mythology, a Jewish mythology, a Christian mythology, an Islamic mythology, a Greek mythology, an Ayyavazhi mythology, a Buddhist mythology, etc.  (It is important to note that the terms myth and mythology can refer to beliefs without implying fantasy, fiction, or falsehood.)  Have your students explore the Yoruba mythology as presented by M. I. Ogumefu in Yoruba Legends: [http://www.sacredtexts.com/afr/yl/index.htm]

• Ask them to discuss the characters, stories, and themes of these myths/legends.  What phenomenon or idea is each story attempting to explain? What are the natures or personalities of the characters in each story?  What ideals or values is each attempting to teach or instill?
  
  
• Discuss other mythologies and specific myths or legends your students have heard, read, or studied.  How do these myths compare with the Yoruban narratives?
  
  
• Take your students through a brainstorming session to identify modern-day phenomena, persons, customs, behaviors, ideals, or values that would be fun to explore and explain (and perhaps correct) through the creation of a “modern myth.”  Once a list has been generated divide the class into pairs or triads to devise their own narratives.  In the following class meeting, have your students share their new classroom mythology. 

4. Sizing Up The Brothers Size.  Following their attendance at the performance of The Brothers Size, ask your students to reflect on the questions below.  (You might choose to have them answer each individually or you could divide students into groups for round-table discussions.  Have them consider each question, record their answers, and then share their responses with the rest of the class.)

Questions to Ask Your Students About the Play in Production

1. What was your overall reaction to The Brothers Size?  Did you find the production compelling?  Stimulating?  Intriguing?  Challenging?  Memorable?  Confusing?  Evocative?  Unique?  Delightful?  Meaningful? Explain your reactions.
   
   
2. Did experiencing the play heighten your awareness or understanding of the play’s themes?  (e.g., the challenges of familial relationships and their power to build up or tear down an individual, and the struggle for freedom in the face of  mounting challenges and oppressions, such as poverty, racism, and one’s own history of mistakes or bad choices) What themes were made especially apparent in the course of the production? Are you able to identify additional themes?  Explain your responses.
   
   
3. Do you think that the pace and tempo of the production was effective and appropriate? Explain your opinion.
   
   
4. Did the music and use of song enhance the story and themes of the play?  How?  Could you envision The Brothers Size without its musical elements?  Explain your response.

Questions to Ask Your Students About the Characters

1. Did you personally identify with any of the characters in The Brothers Size?  Who?  Why?
   
   
2. What qualities were revealed by the action and speech of the characters?  Explain your ideas.
   
   
3. Did any characters develop or undergo a transformation during the course of the play?  Who?  How?  Why?
   
   
4. Did experiencing the play heighten your understanding or appreciation of McCraney’s connection to and interest in Yoruba religion and mythology?   In what ways did the characters reveal this connection or interest?  Explain your responses.

Questions to Ask Your Students About the Style and Design of the Production

1. Was there a moment in The Brothers Size that was so compelling or intriguing that it remains with you in your mind’s eye or ear?  Can you write a vivid description of that moment?  As you write your description, pretend that you are writing about the moment for someone who was unable to experience the performance.
   
   
2. Did the design elements of the production—for example, its staging, the scenic design, sound design, costume design, and lighting design, and music—enhance the performance?  Explain your reaction.
   
   
3. Did the design elements work together to create a unified production?  Were there any elements that distracted from the action of the play?  Which?  Why?
   
   
4. Did the style of the production and its design reflect the themes of the play?  How?
   
   
5. What mood or atmosphere did the lighting design establish or achieve?  Explain your experience.
   
   
6. How did the sound design enhance your overall experience?  Explain your response.
   
   
7. Did the color and design of the costumes serve to illuminate the characters, themes, and style of the play?  How?
   
   
   
5. “…Write for [yourself], as a source for people who would understand [you] instantly…” At the age of 14, playwright Tarell McCraney became a member of a teenage troupe that taught HIV awareness and prevention through theatre at youth rehabilitation and detention centers.  He notes that he and his peers created theatrical presentations that reflected their “own complex lives at home,” contained “dark secrets,” offered opportunities for “sharing moments that made them feel as if they weren’t alone,” and lead, ultimately, to a greater sense of community among his peers and the youth for whom they performed.  McCraney writes of that experience, “I began to write for myself as a source for people who would understand me instantly…”  Have your students consider what personal stories they might share with their peers to make them “feel as if they weren’t alone” or to cultivate a greater sense of community.  Ask them what could they write for themselves that could be understood instantly by their peers?  Have your students dramatize, that is script, their stories for the ears, eyes, and edification of their classmates.  Have them consider how they might use myth and music in the manner of Tarell McCraney as forms of inspiration and expression.  If appropriate, students may volunteer their scripts to be read or performed aloud to the class and discussed.