Joe Turner’s come and gone
and I haven’t even finished this review. My procrastination, however,
should not be seen as any reflection on the quality of the play. Matter
of fact, Shadow Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s
Come and Gone is one of the finest plays I’ve seen this year.
(Incidentally, Joe Turner’s
Come and Gone is not gone just yet. It runs every Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday through November 1. I recommend skipping past the rest
of this review and booking your tickets right away).
Joe Turner
is the second of August Wilson’s ambitious Pittsburgh Cycle—a 10-play
series that chronicles the African-American experience in the 20th Century,
one decade at a time. Joe Turner is Wilson’s migration tale—a
story drawn from the stories of the tens of thousands of black folks,
including Wilson’s maternal grandmother, who journeyed to industrial
cities of the north, in the years following emancipation, to search
out a better (or at least a different) way of life.
The action takes place in 1911
in a Pittsburgh boarding house operated by Bertha and Seth Holly, a
cantankerous but loving couple played by Debbie Johnson Lee and the
incredible Timothy C. Johnson. Life at the Holly house is fairly tranquil,
despite the religious eccentricities of Bynum Walker (Mark Morgan),
until a mysterious stranger arrives in search of his runaway wife and
his own secret redemption.
The acting is magnificent all
around. The body language of Seth Michael and Kimberly Nicole, who play
the young lovers Jeremy and Molly, is worth its weight in words. A more
innocent romance between neighbor Reuben and young Zonia Loomis (Terrence
Williams and Jaliah Peters) is handled very nicely by the young actors.
Longtime Shadow company actor Kurt Soderstrom once again manages the
unsympathetic character, in this case, peddler and people finder Rutherford
Selig, with grace and ease. And Cajardo Lindsey, as the mysterious and
haunted Herald Loomis, steals the show with his grim countenance and
spooky eyes. Each time Herald slammed the door in a dramatic entrance,
the audience gasped and murmured in nervous anxiety.
Director Jeffrey Nickelson
interprets Wilson’s play with care and intelligence, picking up on
all the subtle nuance of the storytelling as well as the understated
complexities of the characters. His cast moves the almost three-hour
story along without missing a beat.
“August Wilson is a poet
first,” Nickelson said. “His plays are an exploration of the musicality
of language, and, as a director, you have to find the right cadence.”
Joe Turner marks the
third Wilson play brought to life by Shadow and its first Wilson production
in the company’s new downtown Aurora home—a beautiful space that
includes a 136-seat theater, a full bar, and a gallery of original work
by renowned Denver sculptor Ed Dwight.
Now that the Denver Center
has all but completed its exclusive Wilson cycle (they will present
the final installment, Radio Golf, next season), Shadow is taking
its turn. Nickelson said he plans to present one Wilson play per season
for the next several years. If Shadow’s first three Wilson productions
are the measure, we are in for seven more years (at least) of national
caliber theater.
August Wilson was a true American
original, and his Pittsburgh Cycle is colossal, both in scope and substance.
His passing in 2005 was a tragic loss to American Theater. So too was
Shadow’s 2008 relocation a sad loss to the City of Denver. But Wilson’s
words are living on in Aurora under Shadow Theatre’s scrupulous artistic
gaze. And take me at my word: It’s well worth the drive.
Photo Courtesy of McBoat Photography
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