Jitney by August Wilson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Jitney
Book Review: Come for the scene, stay for the play.
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Book Review: His best play since Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Summary: 5 Stars
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.Book Review: I wanted a Jitney Driver to run me over to end the pain!
Summary: 1 Stars
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!Book Review: Very Good
Summary: 4 Stars
August Wilson is the greatest American playwright. Not the greatest living American playwright, but the greatest, period. His best plays stand comparison with the best work of Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams. No American playwright has produced such a consistent body of work, and no American playwright has attempted a cycle with the scope and ambition of his series of plays. Wilson's subject is the Great Migration, the story of the African-Americans who emigrated from the southern states to the cities of the industrial North and their slow construction of satisfactory lives in the difficult and changing world of 20th century America. Wilson has written 10 plays on this subject, one for each decade of the 20th century, amounting to a fictional history of African-Americans in the urban North. This is, however, history from below. Wilson's heroes are garbagemen, short-order cooks, day laborers, self-taught musicians, and street vendors. One of his great gifts is his ability to use common speech in a way that is consistently interesting, frequently eloquent, and often powerful. He gives poetic voice to people usually regarded as inarticulate and invests ordinary struggles with real but not exaggerated significance. The African-Americans of Wilson's plays are a doubly uprooted people. Uprooted initially by the grievous trauma of slavery that sundered their connection with their native traditions, the emigrants fleeing the Jim Crow south and its brutal racism are uprooted also from their homes, families, and the traditions developed in the aftermath of slavery.
Wilson's overall story is the reconstruction of African-American identity and family life in the cities of the North over the course of the 20th century. Wilson's plays often feature protagonists whose sense of identity and families have been damaged greatly by the oppressions of racism and the atomizing effects of the industrial economy of the North. Over the course of the cycle, Wilson shows characters re-establishing a sense of connection with their ancestors, even back to Africa, and gradually developing the family ties to sustain them. Wilson repeatedly uses supernatural elements in his work, particularly as a device to advance his theme of the importance of developing a sense of historic connection with ancestors, including those originally abducted from Africa. This could easily be hokey, but his matter of fact use of these elements is very effective. Another recurring theme is the importance of music, particularly the Blues tradition developed by African-American musicians, which he sees as a vital and creative force in African-American life, often carrying truths across generations. Some of the most affecting parts of Wilson's work are his demonstrations of the direct and indirect destructive effects of American racism on family life. Even more powerful are those scenes in which his characters overcome these obstacles to reaffirm family connections.
Not all of Wilson's plays are outstanding, but all are at least very good. Readers will differ on their favorites. In my opinion, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Fences, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom are outstanding. The rest vary from excellent (The Piano Lession) to the very good. Cumulatively, they are a really impressive achievement. Mention must be made of the fact that Wilson has been aided by outstanding collaborators. Wilson's plays usually go through a series of versions before the final version emerges. Wilson has had the benefit of working with unusually talented directors, notably the gifted Lloyd Richards, who was responsible in large measure for recognizing Wilson's talent. Wilson has benefited also from the existence of a whole generation of remarkably talented African-American actors. These people made it possible for Wilson to realize his vision. We have all been the beneficiaries of the work of Wilson and his collaborators.