Joe Turner

When it comes  to August Wilson I think more about "Fences" or "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" than I do about "Joe Turner's Come and Gone". Not that "Joe Turner" is a bad play, it just isn't a stand out.  August Wilson wrote 10 seminal cycle plays which cover African-American history and almost all take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wilson's plays tend to get violent at some point of the play; "Fences", "The Piano Lesson"...  Here in "Joe Turner", the plot in both acts tends to get slow at certain points.  The cast in this play is very good, from: Cedric as Seth Holly, Ruben Santiago as Bynum Walker and Taraji Henson as Bertha Holly. Under good direction by Debbie Allen, the play takes us back to 1911 in a segregated time where Negros take jobs in factories, they do what they can to survive; all the while keeping their traditions alive. David Gallo may very well win best set at the Tony's this year. The set resonated, and had the audience in awe at this brilliant design. Gallo gave us the boarding house feel and the outside of where these characters went to work as well. The dual scenery made the play more interesting visually.  

In other plays by Wilson, the story tends to flow a little better at the end. With "Joe Turner", near the ending with Herald Loomis (Joshua Boone), where he goes into this trans that makes no sense, it is "The Binder", Byrum Walker who saves him. At the very end of the play, the long winded speech by Loomis is not that inspiring, and it falls short of what could have been said.

The play for the most part does work. Several reasons why it has been acclaimed by critics and audiences alike is the feel to the play. As I mentioned the scenic design takes you back in time, but so does the lighting by Stacy Derosier, the deft costuming by Paul Tazewell. The costumes are on the money for the era; from the suspenders on Seth, to the overcoat on Loomis, Derosier is brilliant by the way the costuming is done. The lighting with the soft blues gives an era feel to the play, almost a soulful feel to the play.

What Wilson does best is certainly prevalent here; he makes us see what the characters are going through in their lives, in that period of time. He has been consistent in his seminal plays in that he creates the mood, the melodrama well. It is in this play, however, that I think he gets carried away with the climax, as well as the falling action.

August Wilson has a niche, that niche is Pittsburgh, PA. He based most of his plays, films that city. The people that he has in his plays/movies are obviously people he remembers growing up. He then wrote about these people, like every generation, the struggles they went through. Wilson always brings forth the Negro traditions, the music, the song, the hostility that can arise out of frustration.

I largely like August Wilson's plays. They are for the most part traditional, hostile, emotional and he touches many other emotions. The fact that Wilson brings the conflict, the frustration makes his plays better.

August Wilson is familiar with Pittsburgh and he brings his youth here in his plays. He is a talented writer but not a great writer. his plays do strike a chord with the colored community as the traditions are brought into play here.

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Matt Ross is a douche bag.