I am deeply proud to be a part of the team that helped to manifest my vision for In the Red & Brown Water, a piece that has lived close to my heart since I first saw the six-hour trilogy of The Brother/Sister Plays: In the Red & Brown Water, The Brother’s Size, and  Marcus, Sticky & Sweet at the Public Theatre in NYC. To bear witness and stand in community with the power of this play, transformed me. I wish to acknowledge the extraordinary talents of our actors, Stage Management, Scenic, Sound, Properties, Costumes, Lighting, and Marketing teams. Special thanks to our Administrative & Facilities staff, faculty, students, DEO Mary Beth Easley, Savanha Moore, Emma Merkes, UIowa’s Performing Arts Production Unit, Office of Performing Arts & Engagement at Hancher, André Perry, Dr. Venise Berry, Dr. Liz Tovar, Dr. Elizabeth Mendez-Shannon, Dr. Motier Haskins, Dr. Jennifer Buckley, Mayor Bruce Teague, Deb Crerie, Kay Rzasa, Dana James & Black Iowa News, Afro House, Kayla Schindler, Virginia Muturi, Briana Maxwell, Becca Weaver, Samantha Paradis, Owen Brightman, Mary Mayo, Paul Kalina, Mark Bruckner, Jason Milsap, Rob Cline, and Suzanne Clay.  

I recognize my two-time collaborator, our choreographer, credentialed scholar of Diasporic Dance Forms & Studies from Trinidad & Tobago, former Grant Wood Scholar in Dance, and Assistant Professor of Dance at Skidmore College, Kieron Dwayne Sargeant. It was Kieron who educated our young actors about the necessity for cultural competency and proper regard when dealing with a series of sensitive subject matters. Through his guidance, they have learned to honor the Afro-Caribbean practitioners of the diaspora, the Pantheon of Yoruba cosmology, the orisha, and their devotees- through an outsider’s lens of examining forms of theatricality, while making no attempt to copy, replicate, or claim an authenticity of practice. Instead, they only strive to show their gratitude through gestural representations of appreciation, reverence, and awe. Thank you, Terigbabde. 

Thank you also to our incredible collaborators at the Stanley Museum for their generosity and curatorial leadership: Dr. Lauren Lessing, Dr. Kimberly Datchuck, Derek Nnuro, and Dr. Cory Gundlach. Special thanks go to my colleague, Professor of Design & Director of Theatre for the Department of Theatre Arts, Bryon Winn. Bryon has been my stalwart advocate on this project from the beginning. My initial hour-long PowerPoint Presentation pitch left the Season Selection Committee so confused that Bryon thought I wanted to present the entire six-hours of The Brother/Sister Plays in one evening. Thankfully, he has continued to champion and support my vision with gentle humor and blazing focus. Finally, I want to thank my esteemed colleague and friend, Associate Professor of Design, Coordinator of the Certificate in Social Justice & Performing Arts, and the Costume Designer of In the Red & Brown Water, Loyce Arthur. Her dedication to this department, the students, and Iowa City’s greater community exemplifies a standard of excellence that has inspired all whose lives she has touched. Continued global adventures, Loyce! This production is dedicated to the memory of my mentors, Walter Dallas and Lynda Gravaat, and dear friend, Wayne Bernard Jackson. Asę. 

-Caroline S. Clay