Theatre / theatre
Review: Jitney, Theatre Royal Bath – ‘It deals with vital issues, but at times it lectures like an agony aunt’
This is a frustrating review to write.
August Wilson is the multi-Pulitzer-winning playwright behind (amongst many others) Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Fences which were both adapted for the screen, and whose work’s been performed by Viola Davies, Angela Bassett, James Earl Jones and so many stars. He has parks and theatres named in his honour; there’s even been a commemorative stamp.
Jitney is a co-production between the renowned Headlong theatre company, Leeds Playhouse, and the Old Vic in London. The direction (Tinuke Craig) and cast are outstanding. The set, sound, direction, all seriously impressive. This is a production from people who are setting the bar in theatre.
is needed now More than ever
But I have a wistful “but”. It is painful to say it but the script isn’t great. It deals with vital issues, but at times it lectures like an agony aunt, the dramatic tension is MIA, and I even (whisper it) got bored. So let’s get into the many positive details, because there’s a lot of good here which deserves your attention.
‘Although the characters are inconsistently, slightly and weakly written, these actors fill all the cracks with their craft and artistry’ – Photo: Manuel Harlan
Becker (the excellent Wil Johnson) has run a jitney (unlicensed cab) station for years. His son’s been in jail for 20 years (Booster, played by Blair Gyabaah) and is about to come home. The boy’s mother died when he was jailed, and Becker has remarried. He’s not what he used to be, but is respected across the neighbourhood.
His drivers are a mix of men, resigned to a white-run world, to poverty, disrespect, and a loss of hope. The core team are Youngblood (the very watchable Solomon Israel), a Vietnam vet with hopes for himself and his family (his partner is Rena, played with real heart by Leanne Henlon); combative Turnbo who likes the women (Sule Rimi); the tailor-turned-alcoholic Fielding (Tony Marshall) and the wise, amiable Doub (Geoff Aymer, who I longed to see more of).
First up – set and sound. Wow. Alex Lownde’s set is a wondrous kind of magical. A box-stage is carved into a slant, like a cabin in a mountainside. In the box is the jitney station – an unlicensed cabbies’ space, the precinct for all our action.
Sule Rimi as Turnbo and Leanne Henlon as Rena – Photo: Manuel Harlan
Outside the box, on the slant, are projected moving streetscapes and maps of Pittsburgh – the world the drivers will bring into the play (video by Ravi Deepres). Max Perryment’s sound and music are pitch-perfect (and yes, I want that soundtrack). The lighting (Elliot Griggs) is remarkable and unobtrusive, creating the world so well.
The cast is impressive. This is a wordy beast of a script which needs to be delivered at break-neck speed (with accents) to keep the audience’s attention. Although the characters are inconsistently, slightly and weakly written, these actors fill all the cracks with their craft and artistry.
The fluidity of the stories that pour into and out of the jitney station mean there is no single lead. For delivering such a powerful ensemble, it’s a round of applause to all. The central cast do fine work in bringing heart to the many under-explored stories of poverty, systemic and specific racism, gentrification and sexism.
But the “but”? If you come expecting a threaded-together set of stories that are only touched on briefly (there’s enough here for a six-part TV series, which would do the characters and tales so much more justice), you’ll be fine. But look for a larger dramatic development and you’ll be left wanting.
Sule Rimi as Turnbo – Photo: Manuel Harlan
We hear third hand about personal dramas – then are told about them a second time by the people who lived them. As an audience, we never see them and so are robbed of any first-hand emotional connection. In doing this, Wilson distances us from the characters’ plights. Our engagement is pushed away.
Whatever the reasons for choosing this particular script, it is important to note that in 2022 it’s still a big thing to have nine black actors in a major touring production (although only one is a woman, there as a mother and partner, rather than in her own right).
Press night sales looked healthy, and that’s in Bath’s main house. We need much, much more global majority heritage theatre. Let’s hope this show is a sign of what’s to come.
Personally, I am holding out hope for a revival of the superb Blue Door by Tanya Barfield with Ray Fearon and Fehinti Balogun, which ran at TRB’s Ustinov in 2019. You never know your luck.
This is an important show. It’s a long one. It’s not perfect. But it’ll make you think and sometimes laugh. Go.
Jitney is showing at Theatre Royal Bath until July 30.
Main photo: Manuel Harlan
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