Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Greek mythology. For as far back as I can remember, it’s been one of my favorite things to read about…to immerse myself in. It’s one of those things that has really shaped who I am, from young ages to my life now. So when I started reading about The Half-God of Rainfall, I was so excited to see a twist on one of my favorite parts about Greek mythology…demigods. Demigods are half human and half God or Goddess. And this play wasn’t just about a demigod…it was about an African demigod. I had no idea how this was going to play out, but after seeing this play, I absolutely loved what they did.
The Half-God of Rainfall was like watching a poem. The language was so beautiful, and hearing it spoken was breathtaking. It wasn’t like a play I’d ever really seen before, though I guess I could abstractly compare the language to Shakespeare’s, but definitely more modern. It was the language of a myth, of a story. And that encompassed the show extremely well…as that was what we were watching. I think that was one of the things that really drew me in.
When it comes to content, The Half-God of Rainfall had so much to it. There were so many elements of the story we were drawn into. Some of them were great, like seeing the relationship between a mother, Modupe, and her son, Demi. Some of them were terrifying, like what Zeus does to Modupe. Some of them were just so well worked, like when Demi is pulled aside and told that children of the Gods couldn’t play professional sports.
There are so many phenomenal themes in this show, but I think the most important ones lay with masculinity. We see a very wide range of approaches to this. There is, of course, the toxic masculinity of the Gods and what they do. How they view women, like a prize. But there’s also Demi, who is known for being a crybaby. There is violence from men, very much shown in the way Zeus treats and takes Modupe. I think all of these shows of masculinity are part of a story that can be told in any place, at any time. The Half-God of Rainfall just brought them all together into one play. It’s one of those things that really makes you think.
Something else I really loved about The Half-God of Rainfall was the mixing of cultures in it. We see the Nigerian culture and Gods, the Greek culture and Gods, and I really would count the emphasis on basketball as a culture as well. It really shows how the world can be so different, but also so much the same. Gods are Gods, humans are humans. Sometimes those two worlds mix and we get demigods. But when we see all the interactions, we can really see that in the end, we’re all just the same. Deities share through cultures, as do humans, as does everyone in between.
Everything we saw on stage was so well thought out, and so simple. I feel like this rings true with most shows at the Wilma, but it’s a way of letting us really concentrate on the play. The actors give us everything we need…and I feel this way about The Half-God of Rainfall. The set was absolutely beautiful. It was so simple, but so fitting of the play and what we were watching. The costumes were basic, but very fitting of the characters wearing them. I loved the basic nature of them, but how they really portrayed who was wearing them.
We really got unbelievable contrasts with this show. It’s a really incredible thing that the play captured. We get to see things like men/woman, deity/human, power/weakness, and of course, right/wrong. It was another thematic thing that just blew me away. And it wasn’t even hard to swallow…the actors brought it right to us, and made it easy to soak in and figure out as we watched. The Half-God of Rainfall showed us that everything has two sides to it. And it’s not a matter of what we think or perceive…it makes us really think about all that. Maybe we were right about things…but maybe we were wrong.
Honestly, I can’t even figure out if there was something I didn’t love about The Half-God of Rainfall. I knew going in that I was going to love it…as I said above, I have a love of Greek mythology. Anything with that is right up my alley. But walking out, I got so much more than I even thought I was going to get. I truly think this is one of my favorite plays I’ve ever seen. It really hit me. It was beautiful and painful and brought up so much in my chest. I’ve never seen anything quite like The Half-God of Rainfall, and I seriously doubt I ever will again.
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