Love and Resilience Derived From ‘Monsters’ and Martial Arts

It’s not uncommon for family fighting to figure heavily in drama, but not the kind you see in “The Monsters,” a new one-act play by Ngozi Anyanwu. That’s because for Big and Lil, the half-siblings who are the sole characters, fighting is a key form of bonding.To be clear, I’m not referring to verbal arguments or emotional aggression, or the moments of reconciliation that can follow. Big is a fighter in the literal, professional sense, earning a living as a mixed martial artist. MMA, as it’s frequently referred to, is, according to an article on MartialArts.io—yes, I had to look it up—“a full-contact combat sport combining techniques from wrestling, Brazilian jiu jitsu, boxing, and Muay Thai.”Like any sport, MMA is played at various levels, and Big is a relatively small-time champion who, at roughly 40, isn’t destined for the big leagues. All of this is established in the opening scene when Lil, who’s a decade younger, shows up after one of his matches, hoping to reconnect; the two haven’t seen each other in years, Big having left home when Lil was still a girl.The reasons for that estrangement are revealed in flashbacks as Big, who is at first reluctant to see his half-sister, to put it mildly, is persuaded to start training her. Both are products of an extremely dysfunctional childhood; their father—the real monster in this play—is represented at various points by a menacing voice and the sounds of loud knocking.Sound and, predictably, movement play key roles in this production: Sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman’s original music, with its wistful R&B textures, lends an easy lyricism that complements Rickey Tripp’s thoughtful, vigorous choreography. There are periodic slow-motion sequences to reinforce the haunted memories informing the fighting, for which Sijara Eubanks, an MMA authority with numerous championship titles, served as a consultant.Okieriete Onaodowan and Aigner Mizzelle, respectively cast as Big and Lil, bring both physical and emotional credibility to their characters and the relationship between them. Mr. Onaodowan, an original cast member of “Hamilton,” exudes a brooding, wounded quality while also deftly fielding the touches of sly, playful humor in Ms. Anyanwu’s dialogue.Ms. Mizzelle delivers a more animated performance, in part because the role encourages it. Even when we first meet Lil, presumably at a low point—there are references to a dead-end job and a tentative housing situation, and to drinking, which turns out to be a longtime scourge in their family—she exudes a certain light, and under the playwright’s sensitive direction, both actors convey how their characters differ even as their camaraderie deepens.There’s frustration along the way, of course. Towards the end, both Big and Lil are given monologues in which they reinforce, in the plainest of terms, how they have suffered. Big laments that he has been perceived as a monster his whole life, tough and aggressive, because of his size, when he just wanted peace: “This is all I know. But I’m…I’m tired, Josie,” he says, referring to Lil’s given name, Josephine, as he does sporadically.“You think your pain is so special,” Lil retorts, inserting a profane adjective. “Don’t wanna be an animal. But you fight in a cage for a living. Crying about being lonely. But you the one who never came back.”Suffice it to say Lil’s anger proves fleeting. Ms. Anyanwu originally subtitled “The Monsters” “a sibling love story,” and that’s pretty much a perfect summation of this simple but endearing play, which reminds us that while all kinds of love can be complicated, it’s important to roll with the punches.

Love and Resilience Derived From ‘Monsters’ and Martial Arts

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