Conversation sings and swings, bends and bounces and hits heaven smack in the clouds, in the glorious new production of August Wilson’s 'Jitney'...Acted by an impeccably tuned ensemble...There’s no way a theatergoer can watch 'Jitney' without feeling the pulsing, defiant aliveness of every character onstage...Conversation becomes performance art, and part of the pleasure of watching this peerless cast is the delight its characters take in listening to the others riffing."
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"A soul-sustaining, symphonic piece by a late, great master, about fathers and sons, workers and their dreams—deliverance for audiences hungry for soaring language and tough truths. Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson steers a powerhouse cast through the dense alleyways and along the majestic avenues of Wilson’s language...It’s not driven by plot so much as the impulses and chemistry of the characters. And they have been incarnated to perfection by a great group."
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"The skills Wilson always possessed are jammed up against those he acquired with experience and distance. Santiago-Hudson’s staging tries to honor both, but is limited by the patchwork text...These feints at a kind of plot-by-collage keep devolving into sitcomery; the speeches that later in Wilson’s career would achieve a kind of oracular magnificence too often feel like filler...If in 'Jitney' we see the marks of Wilson’s ambition but not yet the payoff, that only makes it more valuable."
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"Wilson’s play is so disciplined, so full of distinctive voices with their own pungent passions and fears, and so meticulously brought to life by a taut ensemble feelingly directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson that we fully accept this world as it is given to us in this production...By great good fortune it is also possible to see the same thing happen right now in Denzel Washington’s filmed version of 'Fences.' Neither should be missed."
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"A superb production under the direction of Ruben Santiago-Hudson, a strong Wilson hand...It’s the work of a young playwright not yet fully in command of his prodigious gifts, yet already confident in voice and in the creation of characters who are as specific to their place and time as they are universal in their flaws, hopes and dreams."
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"August Wilson’s 'Jitney' delivers a gripping ride...These conversations pack poetry and punch — along with humor and truth — so we get to know the characters and feel for them...Ruben Santiago-Hudson directs the atmospheric production and fine-tuned ensemble...'Jitney' is the last of Wilson's 10-play series about black life in America to reach Broadway. It still gives a lift in the age of Uber."
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"One of Wilson’s best plays...As one of his most realistic plays, 'Jitney' is filled with sharply observed characters who don’t immediately reveal themselves to the naked eye...His heartfelt feelings for his characters made Wilson a master of the ensemble play structure, which lives and dies on the human comedy of its characters...Under Santiago-Hudson’s sure hand, you can’t help but relish the performances."
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"Actor-turned-director Ruben Santiago-Hudson's natural feel for the plays of August Wilson yields a superb production...It takes considerable skill to conduct the musical movements of Wilson's dialogue with the fluidity achieved here...There's not an actor on the stage who doesn't thoroughly inhabit his or her flavorful character, from their singular speech patterns to their own particular walk or physicality. All of them deserve the highest praise...The result here feels just as revelatory."
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