Review - Jitney

Trying to pay off my remaining debts from my Italian adventure, I'm a little behind in my theatergoing for this year. I'm going to be picking up the pace soon - I did see a show last week (which I may chat about in an upcoming review of another show, so stay tuned) and Restaurant Week has started, and I have a couple of reservations to try new spots.  But last night, I was thrilled to get to see the Broadway debut of August Wilson's Jitney.  You'll have to forgive this review, though, I'm a little out of practice...

Jitney is the last of Wilson's plays from his 'Century Cycle' to be presented on Broadway. Strangely enough, it was the first play he wrote in the cycle.  When Wilson passed away in 2005, I had to write a small piece about him for a work event, so I made sure to read all of his plays before writing it.  I adored reading Jitney and have been waiting all this time to see it (I've seen all the other plays in the cycle). I'm happy to say it was well worth the wait.

I believe I've mentioned many times before that I love August Wilson's plays.  I love the language and the magic.  I love the specificity of the characters, yet the universality of the humanity.  I love the low-down humor and the high-brow Shakespearean monologues. I love it all and I can't believe I've had to wait since 2013 to see one of his plays (the production of The Piano Lesson at the Signature Theater that year was one of my theatrical highlights). Revivals of August Wilson plays should be as frequent as revivals of Shakespeare or Arthur Miller, in my humble opinion.  I just can't get enough.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Although I'm basically a plot girl, I loved watching Jitney unfold. There is a plot, of course, but it's not really the driving force of the play.  The characters and their relationships are what is special. After only a couple of minutes, I felt like I knew all of these characters and I could've spent all day and all night with them, hearing their stories, and watching their interactions with each other.  The delight the characters took in each other (or the antagonism) was fantastic, as was the delight the actors took in each other. There was a palpable chemistry, and a crackling energy, to the entire cast which extended even into the curtain call.  It was quite lovely.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

Jitney takes place in a storefront car service company in a rundown Pittsburgh neighborhood.  Each of the employees/drivers come in and out of the shop with stories to tell and unique lives to live. The actors are all perfectly cast, and give such full and rich performances, it is amazing. There was the neighborhood gossip, who was funny and witty, but who had a mean and desperate streak underneath; the young Vietnam vet who is obviously hiding something, but what he's hiding is not what anyone expects; the bon vivant who runs numbers from the storefront's phone; the old-timer who just can't get himself out of the bottle; and the car service's head man, a retired mill worker who is the glue of the community.  Ratched-up dramatic tension is presented when his son is released from prison after serving a 20-year sentence for murder.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

There were layers upon layers upon layers of storytelling in the characters' dialogue - there weren't a lot of the majestic monologues that Wilson's plays are known for, but the ones that were in Jitney were stupendous. First among equals were the speeches in the scene between the father and son at the end of the first act - the father never visited the son during his 20 years in prison and the son has come back for reconciliation and remembrance.  How they each handle the reunion is truly breathtaking and heartbreaking.  John Douglas Thompson and Brandon J. Dirden were spectacular.  They were even more tragic in their following scene. Needless to say, I was a sobbing mess by the end of the play.

I also laughed.  A LOT.  The young woman's monologue about buying a house was hysterical, and the neighborhood gossip, Turnbo, was a riot when he wasn't scaring me. And we only see the hotel doorman, Philmore, a couple of times, but my goodness, was he funny and sad all at the same time.  The whole play was funny and sad all at the same time.  Just like life.  That's what I love about August Wilson's plays - no matter how fantastical they can sometimes be, they're just like life.  No person is just one thing, and no decision has just one outcome.  I feel like I'm eavesdropping on fascinating lives, and real people, when I'm watching his plays come to life, and I love that.  I cried at the end of the play for the characters and also for the fact that I don't get to live in his worlds often enough.  That really has to change.  Not only are the plays superior drama, but they're also so timely right now.  Jitney takes place in the 1970s, but much of what the characters are going through is what African-Americans are going through now.  Still. Again.  We need our artists to tell these stories now and there's no one better at telling the stories than August Wilson.  Even if he isn't here, his words and love for humanity still is, inside his plays.  Please, everyone, go see Jitney.  It's fantastic, plus, we need to show producers that we want, we NEED, to see August Wilson's 'Century Cycle'!  Right?!