04/10/26
It is August in Pittsburgh, 1911... From the deep and near South the sons and daughters of newly freed African slaves wander into the …
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It is August in Pittsburgh, 1911... From the deep and near South the sons and daughters of newly freed African slaves wander into the city. Isolated, cut off from memory, having forgotten the names of the gods and only guessing at their faces, they arrive dazed and stunned, their hearts kicking in their chests with a song worth singing.
—From August Wilson’s introduction to the text of
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
In the summer of 1984, before he made his Broadway debut as a playwright, 39-year-old August Wilson announced an audacious goal: He would write a play set in each decade of the 20th century, “to isolate the most important ideas that confronted Blacks.” Twenty years later, Wilson was diagnosed with liver cancer, but he completed his objective just before passing away in 2005. The 10 plays of his “Pittsburgh Cycle” form a legacy of greatness, and the poetic drama widely considered the finest of them all,
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, is back on Broadway in a revival starring
Taraji P. Henson and
Cedric the Entertainer, directed by Debbie Allen.
After a series of regional productions, and buoyed by Rich’s enthusiastic early reviews,
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone opened on Broadway on March 27, 1988, starring 2026 Oscar nominee Delroy Lindo as Herald, L. Scott Caldwell (who won a Tony) as Bertha and Angela Bassett as Martha
Return of a Modern Classic
“It found me. It was time. It was right.” That’s how Debbie Allen describes her decision to direct the highly anticipated new Broadway revival of
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Speaking with
Broadway.com at a press event, Allen emphasized, “What an incredible diamond to put in my hand, to see how I’m going to cut it—because that’s what it is.” Allen had already been tapped by Denzel Washington to direct a movie version of the play, which she knew well, having attended opening night in 1988. What’s more, her sister,
Phylicia Rashad, starred on Broadway in Wilson’s
Gem of the Ocean in 2004 and directed a regional production of
Fences nine years later. It made sense to tackle the play first, so Allen wrote a 40-page study guide for her cast examining Wilson’s intent and the historical context of the play, with thoughts on interpreting it in 2026.
And what a cast! Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson is making her Broadway debut as Bertha alongside Cedric the Entertainer as Seth,
Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Bynum and Tony nominee
Joshua Boone (
The Outsiders) as Herald. Santiago-Hudson brings a treasure chest of Wilson knowledge to his new role: He won a 1996 Best Featured Actor Tony for
Seven Guitars; received a 2017 Tony nomination for directing a revival of
Jitney; co-starred in
Gem of the Ocean; adapted
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom for a Netflix film; and performed Wilson’s autobiographical solo show
How I Learned What I Learned off-Broadway.
“What I dream and pray for as I get into these years in my career is to have more opportunities to do August Wilson,” the modest multi-hyphenate told Broadway.com, “and Debbie Allen has given me that opportunity. I want to make sure that August is proud, and I want to make sure that Debbie is proud.” Henson also reveres Allen, who played her mother in a Lifetime series and directed her in multiple TV projects. “You don’t tell Debbie Allen no,” she quipped to Broadway.com. “She called me and said, ‘I have this August Wilson,’ and I said, ‘What? Yes, I’m doing it.’”
Herald Loomis arrives in Pittsburgh with his daughter “searching for a world that contains his image,” Wilson explained. “The years of bondage to Joe Turner have disrupted his life and severed his connection with his past.” In taking on this now-iconic role, Boone recognizes that everyone in the audience will experience the play in a unique way. “I just want people to feel,” he told Broadway.com. “People will get different things, and whatever that is, great. Just
feel.”
..now we need to get them Harriet Tubman 20s craccing
