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| Alan Bomar Jones, Erika LaVonn, Lester Purry, and James Craven photo by Tim Fuller |
Click here for more information on this production that runs through March 3.
"August Wilson's "Century Cycle" plays focus on the daily lives of different African Americans, with each of the ten plays set in a different decade of the 20th century. While the most famous of these plays is Fences, his Two Trains Running, which is set in 1969, is a poignant and well-crafted piece that follows a group of unrelated individuals whose lives intertwine in a Pittsburgh restaurant they frequent every day. With expert direction and a sensational cast, Arizona Theatre Company's production is simply superb...set in Memphis' restaurant in Pittsburgh's Hill District (the location of all but one of the ten of Wilson's "Century Cycle" plays.) It used to a popular spot with people coming from all over to eat, but now only a few regulars stop by each day. There is change in the air in the form of gentrification and the rise of racial tension in the aftermath of the death, the year before, of Martin Luther King Jr. With the city making plans to tear down twelve blocks in the area, Memphis is hoping to make a nice profit on the building by selling it back to the city. Talk of racial tension, nearby rallies, chants of "black is beautiful," and the hopes and dreams of the residents in the area are threaded throughout the discussions the customers have as they go about their ordinary, daily lives. While the plot is sparse across the three-hour play, Wilson's characters and dialogue are continually riveting, with good pacing and several monologues that draw the audience into their plights. Lou Bellamy, who directed ATC's superb production of Fences back in 2016, is an expert in bringing Wilson's plays to the stage and his work on Two Trains Running is no exception....The cast is as exceptional as the creative designs. They form a well-oiled ensemble who create realistic characters that pull you into their stories. ...While it may focus on African Americans in 1960s Pittsburgh, Two Trains Running is an impressive and visionary work from one of 20th century America's best playwrights that focuses on ordinary people trying to get through their daily lives, something anyone can relate to. With an excellent cast, confident direction, and impressive creative aspects, Arizona Theatre Company's production is compelling theatre. " -Gil Benbrook, Talkin' Broadway (click here to read the complete review)
."...Director Lou Bellamy knows August Wilson... It’s his passion for the piece that is on display in the new exemplary Arizona Theatre Company production. You can sense it before the play begins from the look of Vicki Smith’s detailed scenic design of the well-worn restaurant, and you can feel it from the way the cast embody their characters; they’re lived-in. Both setting and cast reek of authenticity, a notable achievement on a forum where by default reality is an artificial experience, yet here we’re watching a world inhabited by people who appear all too real...." -David Appleford, Valley Screen and Stage (click here to read the complete review)
"Virtuoso performances are the order of the day in Arizona Theatre Company's revival of August Wilson's TWO TRAINS RUNNING....an absorbing and riveting representation of seven individuals, each of whom shares in the struggle to secure a piece of the elusive American Dream. (Director Lou) Bellamy's forte and that of this extraordinary cast is to stoke Wilson's fire into moments that penetrate the wall of the ghetto, expose the audience to the indignities of racism, and evoke empathy for the figures who vie relentlessly against the man for what is their due....Each of the roles in ATC's production is superbly defined...As is the case with all Wilson's works, no one can leave the theatre without indelible impressions of the essence and ironies of life in black America ~ and, in the case of ATC's production, the knowledge that one has watched an ensemble of artists at the top of their game..." - Herbert Paine, Broadway World (click here to read the complete review)
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