Business as Usual: A Two Trains Running Review

August Wilson’s Two Trains Running at Hartford Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson

Hartford Stage breathes new life into the world of August Wilson with a captivating production of Two Trains Running directed by Gilbert McCauley. Civil rights blues rips through 1969 Pittsburgh and a group of neighborhood regulars tussle with the weight of it in Memphis Lee’s restaurant. 

Two Trains Running dances with the difficult themes of depression and self-harm while balancing cultural realities of gentrification, imprisonment versus freedom, and what to do with it. The characters span from humble and hopeful to ignorant and arrogant, brandishing them both. The undercurrent of the story utilizes community as the hinges of a door that swings back and forth between the individualistic goals of each character and the tension it creates, and their ultimate need for each other. Two Trains Running is thought-provoking and vocal about the issues that plague the Black community then and now while taking a little of the edge off with the Negro spiritual and sometimes darker brand of comedic relief that we understandingly welcome. Wilson also takes on themes of spirituality versus superstition with the exposition of unseen characters like Prophet Samuel and Aunt Esther. 

The two-person team running Memphis’s (Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr.) restaurant, Risa (Taji Senior) and Memphis himself, engage with their regulars who come for the coffee with sugar while they themselves serve up the tea. Wolf (Postell Pringle) runs numbers out of Memphis’s place, taking bets and talking trash. Holloway (Jerome Preston Bates) sits, stationed at his regular table, feeding the flames of whatever commotion the others drag in. Hambone (David Jennings) is a disgruntled regular of few words with a grudge against one of the neighborhood businessmen on account of a debt owed for services rendered. Sterling Johnson (Rafael Jordan), fresh out of the penitentiary, comes through to Memphis’s for the skinny on job opportunities and the company of Risa. And West (Jeorge Bennett Watson), the around-the-way Undertaker, pops in from time to time filling the gang in on his clientele. 

Simmons surprises with a performance worthy of a central character. His shift from the pushy and detached boss to a man in full, complete with ghosts, skeletons, and some semblance of heart is notable. Bates evokes wisdom in his ramblings, honing in on the run-on style of storytelling and repetition that Wilson’s work is known for. Bates’ winsome characterization of the sage that is Holloway is a force that pulls the characters together.

Jordan’s range is undeniable as he embodies the “from another time” walk of newfound freedom and inevitable missteps. He nails the convergence of youthful ignorance and untethered hope that Sterling represents. The shift in his dynamic between Pringle and Senior is to be revered as he accents each, providing them with a pop of color. Jordan serves as a catalyst—creating points of tension between himself and each of the characters that allow them moments to share in the noteworthy reach of their character’s delivery. 

Lawrence E. Moten III’s scenic design is a blast from the past—a third space with a strong hit of nostalgia for a time gone by. From the shiny table tops to the checkered floors, Memphis’s restaurant is a familiar and enveloping place.Demario D. Simmons layers the jukebox vibe of Memphis’s place with top hats and patterned blouses, bell bottoms, and flipped hair in a culturally reminiscent time-hop. Xavier Pierce’s lighting design and Gregory Robinson’s music and sound design wrap the presentation up with a bow, creating a look that glazes over like a memory and a sound that feels like dreams of Black beauty by any means necessary.

The combined elements of the production are undeniable and honor the history and legacy of August Wilson and the stories of the diaspora. August Wilson’s use of heavy racial overtones should be understood as a peek through the window of intracultural dialogue and within the context of the psychological impact of the transatlantic slave trade and the subsequent years of segregation and Jim Crow—not as permission to indulge in the characterization of the descendants of those who were enslaved. 

August Wilson's Two Trains Running is on stage through February 16. Tickets start at $30 visit http://hartfordstage.org/ to secure your seats.