Through Sun 5/5
Jitney, playing at the Beck Center for the Arts through May 5, is a mini masterpiece. Director Jimmie Woody allows each character’s unique perspective to gradually unfold in this August Wilson award-winning classic. It was the first play written in playwright August Wilson’s Pittsburgh series.
All action spins off everyday events as a team of freelance cab drivers go about their day. Every time the telephone rings, someone answers “Car Service” and leaves as soon as he learns the pickup spot. This terse exchange implies as much as it tells. For one thing, that there had to be unlicensed taxi cabs (known as gypsies or jitneys) in certain parts of Pittsburgh’s Hill District in the late 1970s because “regular” cabs avoided the area says a lot about prejudice and how it can linger.
For another, it shows the innate practicality and adaptability one needs to survive. There is a job to be done and they do it— no big deal.
There are no lectures (aka soliloquies) here in the Studio Theater. Instead, the audience listens in and observes work days and nights as manager Becker (an admirable Darryl Tatum) competently oversees the crew.
The generous Becker has only one weak spot, his disappointment in his son. Mid-play, Becker’s son, known as “Booster” (Patrick D. Warner), returns after serving twenty years in prison for murder. Warner’s Booster reveals a volatile nature now tempered by regret as he attempts to reconcile with his father.
The drivers include Korean War veteran Doub (a kindly Pete Robinson), who shows his age and shares his hard-won tolerance. He is drawn in sharp contrast with the aggressive “Youngblood” (an emotional Aamar-Malik Culbreth), a younger veteran, this time from Vietnam, who spars with and loves Rena (Thailand Hodge), mother of his young son.
We also meet two other drivers: Turnbo (Bryant Lyles), whose gossipy talk fills in everyone (including us) on everything, and Fielding (Royce Ruffin), who made his living as a tailor before alcohol took over his life.
Non-drivers who drop in on a regular basis include a shady bookie, Shealy (Kym Williams) and a regular passenger/friend, Philmore (Greg White).
The set, designed by Richard Morris, features old-style telephones, a convincingly ratty couch, a linoleum floor and other little touches that served as a persuasive timemachine for anyone who remembers the 1970s. Inda Blatch-Geib’s costumes, especially the fashionable garb sported by Ruffin’s Fielding (the former tailor), bring another note of authenticity to the show.
Lighting designer Colleen Albrecht and sound designer Angie Hayes also provided fitting elements to turn the studio theater’s stadium seating into a welcoming space.
Bottom Line: It is a deceptively simple story brought to life by a talented and engaged cast. While set decades ago in “far-away” Pittsburgh, there’s nothing that present-day Cleveland-area residents can not relate to. (At least, this one can, but then she is already a big August Wilson fan.)
One Response to “THEATER REVIEW: “Jitney” @ Beck Center by Laura Kennelly”
EDWARD MYCUE
August Wilson is king on my block ringing true, not only deep. Lucky you all in Cleveland to have this play well played. I like the several photos in this review. And you are fortunate to have Laura Kennelly the linguist and lifesmith to tell me about it.