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Tuesday, January 12, 2016

POWER OF BROTHERLY LOVE SUBJECT OF NEXT OFFERING @ LUNA STAGE IN WEST ORANGE

The Brothers Size

THE BROTHERS SIZE
By Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Christopher Burris

WHEN: Thursday, February 4th, and runs Thursdays through Sundays until March 6th. Opening night is Friday, February 12th. Performances on February 7th and 18th will be followed by a Talkback.
WHERE: Luna Stage, 555 Valley Road, West Orange. The theatre is handicapped accessible and offers assistive listening devices.
TICKETS: $27-$37  
Group sales available.
$10 Student Rush tickets available one half-hour before curtain.
Individual tickets can be purchased at lunastage.org, or at the box office Tues.-Fri. 10:30am-3pm (973-395-5551).

The best known of his acclaimed trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays, Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brothers Size originally premiered in 2007, but this story of three young black men could not be more timely or relevant.  Younger brother Oshoosi Size has just been released from prison and is trying to figure out a life for himself on the outside. Law-abiding older brother Ogun Size is trying to figure out how to “brother” this brother of his, now that Oshoosi is back in his life and seemingly his responsibility again. But when their family is threatened by the reappearance of a figure from Oshoosi's past, they must learn what it truly means to be brothers.

McCraney’s beautiful play explores with breathtaking honesty and heartbreaking poetry the power of brotherly love in the face of a continuum of broken systems and shattered promises.

The Luna Stage production features Shamsuddin Abdul-Hamid, Brandon Carter, and Clinton Lowe, each actor making his Luna debut. The production is directed by Christopher Burris.

Tarell Alvin McCraney's plays have been performed at the McCarter Theater, the Public Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Magic Theatre, the Young Vic in London (Olivier Award nomination) and around the world. He is the recipient of the prestigious Whiting Award and Steinberg Playwright Award, as well as London's Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, the inaugural New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, and the inaugural Paula Vogel Playwriting Award. He is a graduate from the Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago and the Yale School of Drama.

Christopher Burris is a director residing in Brooklyn. He has directed readings and workshops for The New Group, Labyrinth, Ensemble Studio Theatre Lab, National Black Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Epic Theatre Ensemble, The New Black Fest, and many more.

 

 

Shamsuddin Abdul-Hamid received his BFA at Rutgers University. His theater credits include: Mourning Sun (Theatre167), Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream (STNJ), Alonedom, Tuck-It-Away and Other Stories, Blue Room, Two Gentleman of Verona, Cyrano de Bergerac and You Can't Take It with You (Rutgers Theater Company), Two Gentleman of Verona (Rutgers at Shakespeare's Globe in London).

 

Brandon Carter appeared Off-Broadway as Skeeter in The First Noel (The Apollo Theater, Winter 2015); Justin in Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre, Spring 2016); Gonzalo in The Tempest (The Classical Theatre of Harlem); Theodore in Black Angels Over Tuskegee (St. Luke's Theatre); Macduff in Drunk Shakespeare (Roy Arias Studios). He has an MFA from the Penn State School of Theatre.

 

Clinton Lowe was a series regular on The Hustle (Fuse TV's NCAAP Image Award winning comedy). His stage work includes the likes of Shakespeare, Chekhov, & Hansberry, but he also loves to develop new work such as Holler If Ya' Hear Me (a Broadway Musical inspired by the work of Tupac Shakur) Clinton is also the proud co-founder of Artists 4 Change NYC, a volunteer group that promotes community activism throughout New York City and beyond.

Luna Stage is a small but mighty professional theatre company located in Essex County, NJ, just under 15 miles from New York City.  Throughout the past 23 years, the company has earned a national reputation for developing and producing outstanding new plays and timely revivals and for taking on challenging and provocative subject matters in their work.