January 26, 2010
Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Download image.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Theatre will present "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," directed by Cheryl Hall, at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10-13 and at 2 p.m. Feb. 14 in the Alys Stephens Center's Sirote Theatre, 1200 10th Ave. S. Tickets are $12 and $15; $6 for students; $10 for UAB employees and senior citizens. Visit the UAB Department of Theatre online at uab.edu/cas/theatre.
Tensions both racial and economic bubble up in this play, part of August Wilson's series chronicling African-American life in each decade of the 20th century. "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" is the second August Wilson play to be performed at UAB; the first was the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "The Piano Lesson."
The play's title comes from the title of a song by W.C. Handy, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." Haunted by seven years on Joe Turner's chain gang, Herald Loomis and his daughter Zonia become part of the Great Migration in 1911 and come to Pittsburgh to look for his estranged wife and reunite his family. Surrounded by the vibrant tenants of a black boarding house, he fights for his soul and his song in the dawning days of a century without slavery. "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" was the winner of the 1988 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.
While the play is fictional, both it and the blues song are based on fact, Hall said. "Joe Turner" was actually Joe Turney, the brother of Tennessee governor Pete Turney, who forced black men into hard labor by luring them into crap games and then hauling them away to work on his plantation.
The cast includes Bradley Foster of Birmingham as Selig; Alycia Agboola of Birmingham as Mattie; Tim Craig of Birmingham as Seth; Zach Williams of Birmingham as Jeremy; Benoit Johnson of Madison as Loomis; Cristal Larae' of Los Angeles as Martha; Whitney Rooks of Centre as Bertha; Crystal Lee of Long Beach, Fla., as Bynum; and Elena Ray of Jasper as Molly. The characters of Zonia and Ruben will be played by Shakela Jones of Birmingham and Colby Holman of Hoover, seventh-grade students at the Alabama School of Fine Arts.
About Theatre UAB
The UAB Department of Theatre has won the highest honors awarded to university theaters, including best in region from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). In 2008, UAB's production of "In the Blood" was one of three shows chosen by KCACTF from 300 in consideration nationwide. Faculty members in the department continue to work professionally in addition to teaching. UAB Theatre performances are presented at the Alys Stephens Center, UAB's own world-class performing arts center. This year the department will celebrate its 40th anniversary.