You’ll be scrambling the rest of the season to find a more riveting exploration of fraternal bonds than Tarell McCraney’s The Brothers Size. Newcomer McCraney’s text swaggers with ambition; and better news still is that this production reaches many of the lofty goals he sets for the show. It’s a conventional enough plot: Older brother Ogun (Yaegel T. Welch) has a garage in Louisiana to call his own, but he’s is also saddled with bringing up his ne’er-do-well kid brother, Oshoosi (Warner Miller), who’s fallen under the spell of a homie he met in prison, Elegha (Eddie R. Brown III). Essentially, Oshoosi must claim kinship in one direction or the other—decide who’s his real brother. While it’s the familiar “devil on one shoulder, an angel on the other” contrivance as Oshoosi teeters between redemption and perdition through most of the play, much of what’s written here is brilliant. McCraney provides not only glimpses into the souls of his characters; he reveals much about who we consider to be our own brothers, and why. KEVIN PHINNEY (See Kevin’s full review.)

Tuesdays-Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: Feb. 4. Continues through Feb. 27, 2011