Jitney (play)
| Jitney | |
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| Written by | August Wilson |
| Date premiered | 1982 |
| Place premiered | Allegheny Repertory Theatre Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | 1970, a worn-down gypsy cab station in Pittsburgh's Hill District |
| IOBDB profile | |
Jitney is a play in two acts by August Wilson. The eighth in The Pittsburgh Cycle, this play is set in a worn-down gypsy cab station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in early autumn 1977.
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[edit] Productions
Jitney was first produced at the Allegheny Repertory Theatre, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1982, and next at the Public Theater, Pittsburgh, in 1996 with direction by Marion McClinton, at the Crossroads Theater in New Jersey in spring 1997, directed by Walter Dallas, and at the Huntington Theatre, Boston, in the fall 1998, again directed by McClinton.[1]
Jitney opened off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre on April 25, 2000 and closed on July 2, 2000. Directed by Marion McClinton the cast featured Anthony Chisholm (Fielding), Paul Butler (Becker) and Carl Lumbly (Booster). Jitney was first written in 1979 and set in 1977; it was rewritten and expanded in 2000.
The play premiered in London at the National Theatre, Lyttelton Theatre, from October 16, 2001 through November 21, 2001, directed by McClinton.[2]
The play has been performed in regional theatre, for example at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. in 2001,[3] the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver, Colorado in 2002, Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C. in 2007,[4] and the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. in 2008.[5]
[edit] Characters
- Sheally
- Becker
- Fielding
- Philmore
- Turnbo
- Doub
- YoungBlood/Darnell
- Booster
- Rena
[edit] Synopsis
Regular cabs will not travel to the Pittsburgh Hill District of the 1970s, and so the residents turn to each other. Jitney dramatizes the lives of men hustling to make a living as jitneys—unofficial, unlicensed taxi cab drivers. When the boss Becker's son returns from prison, violence threatens to erupt. What makes this play remarkable is not the plot; Jitney is Wilson at his most real—the words these men use and the stories they tell form a true slice of life.[6]
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 2001 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play (WINNER)
- 2002 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play
[edit] Notes
- ^ Rawson, Christopher."Stage Reviews: Wilson's 'Jitney,' 'King Hedley II' have become clearer, tighter since leaving Pittsburgh"Pittsburgh Post-Gazete (post-gazette.com), June 25, 2000
- ^ "Archive Page for 'Jitney'" albemarle-london.com, retrieved April 17, 2010
- ^ Trescott, Jacqueline."'Jitney'—August Wilson's Funky 70's Ride" seeingblack.com, April 9, 2001
- ^ Nelson Pressley (27 January 2007). "At Ford's, Jitney Still Has Some Gas". The Washington Post: pp. C01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR2007012601741.html. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ "'Jitney' listing" kennedy-center.org, retrieved April 17, 2010
- ^ [1]
[edit] References
- Jacqueline Trescott. "Jitney — August Wilson's Funky 70's Ride". SeeingBlack. http://www.seeingblack.com/x040901/jitney.shtml. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- Brad Bradley (9 April 2001). "Jitney". curtainup. http://www.curtainup.com/jitney.html. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
[edit] Further reading
- Wilson, August (2000). Jitney (First edition ed.). Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press. ISBN 158567186X.
[edit] External links
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