Jitney

Rating:
Summary: Come for the scene, stay for the play.
Review: Becker and Booster, estranged father and son have a scene, which shoots out into hearty emotional territory from the get, that is the heart of this play. A destinctly male play, featuring some standard types, the core being: young & ambitious Youngblood, pesky instrusive Turnbo, older drunken Fielding, settled/sedate veteran Doub, father/manager/coach-like Becker, and Booster-who is actually a mix of youthful intentions and elder understanding.
I read this and cared for Becker and Booster. I was hopeful for Youngblood, and was held in suspense about what would happen between Turnbo and Youngblood.
Jitney is a positive play, with a surely hopeful attitude and a redemptive feel. Wilson deals sparingly with outside circumstances: impending eviction/unknown future, alcoholism/senseless violence, black & white relations, lies that can be tolerated and truths that can't, community/family outside of blood, etc.
I did think it ended too easily, but maintained a sense of hopefulness and redemption, that I imagined satisfied the on-going life of the characters.

Rating:
Summary: JITNEY is the best play I have ever seen.
Review: August Wilson's Jitney opened off-broadway in New York in the Spring of 2001. I saw the play 3 times within 3 weeks, and I took my father the last. It isn't about seeing a play. It's about experiencing and sharing hope.

Set in Pittsburgh, PA of the 1970's, the play centers around jitney/car service drivers as they try to let go of the past, and embrace future changes in themselves and their environment. They're decent, hard working middle-aged black men who are questioning their lives, wondering if they accomplished enough, made mistakes, or have been lead astray and are desparately trying to find a way to rectify themselves, even warn the angry young not to make the same mistakes.

The main story is about Becker, the owner of the Jitney and his relationship with his son Booster, who was recently released from a 20 year prison sentence for killing a rich white society girl after she falsely testified he was rapist. Becker has always been a pillar to his community, and he has never forgiven or understood his son's act. Booster, who could have been another Albert Einstein, was barely twenty when killed the girl. Because of changing times and laws, he was spared the death penalty, but not until after his mother dies of a broken heart, which is something Becker holds Booster responsible for. Will Becker forgive Booster? Is Booster sorry? What will become of Booster, a once promising scholar, who, it seems, has thrown the important years of his life away. Will Becker hold onto the Jitney or will it be demolished to make way for a mall or something similar. Will the young Vietnam Vet be able to close on the house that will make life better for his young family?

What I particularly liked about this play is that, right or wrong, the characters believably argue their convictions. It's as if the audience is deciding who's right. Events are never slanted. While there are a number of powerful scenes, the one that stands out for me is the reunion between Becker and Booster as Booster tries to justify why he killed the girl. The play is never preachy or slanted.

The play kept me and a packed audience on the edge of our seats, literally, up until and including the last word. Each time I went, the play was met with automatic standing ovation.

Whether you're an actor looking for something to sink your teeth in or a person that appreciates a skillfully action and character driven play, Jitney is worth reading. I went 3 times for the language and skillfully developed scenes.

Rating:
Summary: His best play since Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Review: I am so happy Wilson revived this script from the trashcan of the his past. It is the clearest and most engaging story he's written since Jor Turner's.

Rating:
Summary: I wanted a Jitney Driver to run me over to end the pain!
Review: This play is horrible! Not only was it a flat narrative that was as shallow in it's arc as a puddle it was simply an amalgum of sterotypes parading as realistic characters. The dialogue was utter tripe, full as it was with clichés and predictable euphamisms. Why is that we accept bad writing through the use of stereotypes as long as that bad writing is coming from a member of that stereotyped group. All of the subplots were tact on, as if Wilson knowing his play did not have enough substance to sustain itself said "Oh crap! I better put more into this!". In the end they just add to the mess. Shame on you August Wilson! Hang your head in shame!