My Brother My Brother My Brother Review: A Play by Michael Gray Griffith
The question of masculinity in the age of woke culture is a sore point for our society. Playwright Michael Gray Griffith, in typical confrontational style, has decided to press on that nerve in his excellent new play My Brother My Brother My Brother, playing at the Alex Theatre until Saturday, September 21st.
For those who don’t know, Michael Gray Griffith is a local playwright with over a dozen works under his belt. He collaborates with The Wolves Theatre Company. I was fortunate enough to see his last play, Marooned, an excellent piece set in the Bardo space between life and death.
Since 2021, Michael has been a significant figure in what is known as the “freedom movement.” When venues required vaccine passports for entry, he took umbrage at this segregation and founded Cafe Locked Out. A series of daily videos soon followed, addressing the Covid crisis and the societal pressure to vaccinate, which turned those who refused into outcasts. I was fortunate to join Michael’s Cafe Locked Out posse with the No Goat Show—a no-censorship program Michael and I founded, usually airing on Sunday nights, alongside regulars like David Thrussell, Robyn Jackson Stegnar, and Damien Richardson.
Michael is an explosive creative talent, constantly bubbling with ideas, often calling me to discuss his new plays.
Not long ago, he mentioned he was working on My Brother My Brother My Brother. In just four months, here it is, being performed at Alex Vass’ wonderful Alex Theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne.
WARNING: Some spoilers to follow:
My Brother My Brother My Brother has a simple premise: three young men in their early 20s are stuck on a boat off the coast of Australia, with no land in sight and very few provisions. But there’s a catch—one of the young men’s grandfathers appears to have stranded them there on purpose. Grandpop has vanished; perhaps he took his own life, or perhaps not. He has left the boys a test: be men and survive, or be boys and perish. Old-school granddad, right? Michael Gray Griffith is interested in the idea of “rites of passage,” events young men sometimes must endure that bring out their masculinity.
This notion, of course, is deeply offensive to today’s woke cultural revolution, which views masculinity and young men as threats to diversity and inclusion. Young men today often find themselves apologizing for things they did not do or crimes they did not commit, publicly shamed as if they were living in Maoist China in the late 60s and early 70s. We frequently hear about “toxic masculinity” from the woke mob, but the only toxic culture I see is the woke Neo-Maoist Cultural Revolution currently unfolding.
Michael Gray Griffith wants to confront these issues and more. He has assembled a fine young cast to tackle these challenging topics in this 100-minute play, which includes a ten-minute interval.
My Brother My Brother My Brother is an excellent, Samuel Beckett-inspired meditation on masculinity. It’s an enthralling theatrical experience that handles its subjects well without being overly preachy. Themes in the anti-vax community are touched upon, making this one of the first works of art to directly address bodily autonomy, personal liberty, and freedom—issues raised during the Covid crisis. Regardless of one’s opinion on that period, it seems, in retrospect, to have been a troubling descent into unprecedented social control and manipulation. Michael tackles all of this head-on in this dramatic new play.
Tom Darcy, Odysseus, and Joshua Bruce are the three young male leads, and all deliver excellent performances. Joshua Bruce impressed the person I attended the play with, and I think Odysseus did a great job as the most alpha male of the group. Tom Darcy also shines as the young man with the pesky old-school grandfather.
A play aimed at uplifting young men and giving their lives a sense of meaning would have been warmly embraced by previous generations of theatergoers. However, in the wake of the woke cultural revolution, the themes of this play are nearly verboten—forbidden!
If we lived in a just world, this three-hander featuring a talented cast would be staged at the MTC or The Malthouse for a two-month run. Fortunately, the Alex Theatre has stepped in to save the day; it’s playing for the next week, followed by some regional engagements.
I can’t recommend this play enough. It surpasses even Marooned, which I also found impressive. So, get along to this topical, confronting, and timely new theatrical experience, and embrace the beginning of a new non-woke cultural revolution in the arts, which is emerging everywhere. Young men have value. This is a play to take your sons to!
Michael Gray Griffith deserves commendation for this brave theatrical entry, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what he does next!
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