The Arena Stage Jitney has staged August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play ‘Jitney’. Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (who won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2017 for his direction of this play on Broadway) Arena Stage Jitney tells the story of a Pittsburgh jitney station in what is the first staging of what will be a national tour of the play.
Because taxis were often unwilling to pick up fares in Black neighborhoods, unlicensed, so-called ‘jitney’, cab operations were set up by local residents. Created for transportation they quickly became a local hub in their communities and came to represent the resilience and relationships of the local inhabitants. The play tells the dramatic story of a cast of local characters that struggle against a lack of opportunity while having to deal with local exploitative local gentrification of their area that threatens their work and their way of life. The drivers of the jitney fight to resist the forces arrayed against them while dealing with events in their pasts in a bid to fulfill their hopes and dreams for the future.
Set in Pittsburgh in the late 1970s (where the playwright grew up) this play is an American classic that focuses on the universality of pain and ultimate glory of the African American experience. The colorful cast of mostly male jitney drivers share their experiences through dramatic stories about their relationships with friends, family and the women they loved. They speak of their hopes and dreams but these are always tempered with the reality of the Black experience in America. They gossip, argue, fuss and fight but always in an atmosphere that speaks to their deep sense of connection with each other – especially since an urban renewal initiative means that the building they occupy is slated for demolition – taking their jobs with it.
The stage props and design feature decor featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates, an Ebony magazine cover (with cover girl Lena Horne) set in an art deco building that has the lived in dilapidated look one might expect. The characters fill out this set with their colorful antics but also with true drama as they face the ups and downs of life in their neighborhood. This provides the drama in this award winning production that finds a positive resolution to the troubles they are experiencing. With laugh out loud humor and some heart-tugging to boot this is an excellent production that should not be missed.
