PLAY OF THE DAY! Today's Play: JITNEY by August Wilson
By: Chloe Rabinowitz May. 15, 2020
During this time when productions all over the world have been put on pause, we are coming together to celebrate plays that have left their mark on theater history.
This week we will be focusing on the plays of August Wilson.
Today's play, Jitney.
Jitney is the eighth in Wilson's "Pittsburgh Cycle". The play is set in a cab station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1977, and follows the lives of jitney drivers at a station owned by Jim Becker.
Jitney was written in 1979 and first came to the stage at the Allegheny Repertory Theatre in Pittsburgh in 1982. It opened Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre in 2000. The Off-Broadway production won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Scenic Design, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play, a special Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play and the Drama Critics' Circle Award, for Best Play.
Jitney ran in the West End at The National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre in 2001, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Play.
The Broadway premiere of Jitney opened in 2017, starring John Douglas Thompson, Andre Holland, Harvy Blanks, Carra Patterson and more.
Jitney won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
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