Friday Fantasy Adaptation: ‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’
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I decided that since I’d skipped a week, I’d hit you with a whammy and since it’s Black History Month, why not explore the works of the greatest Black playwright, August Wilson? Wilson has to be the greatest untapped resource of the arts community and his Century Cycle plays are just sitting there waiting for someone to adapt them. So today’s fantasy adaptation will look at one of his biggest ones, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Pros: Large ensemble cast, SHOWY parts for actresses, Tony winner for Best Play, great mix of supernatural, realism, its a period piece
Cons: The less well known of the big Wilson plays (overshadowed by the two Pulitzer Prize winning pieces), can supernatural elements and realism blend?
Cast
Idris Elba as Herald Loomis: you want to talk about a part that was tailor made for someone
Naomi Harris as Martha Pentacost: Loomis’ wife, Martha is about 28 and very religious and a member of the Evangelical church. She left the South and her daughter behind.
Quvenzhane Wallis as Zonia Loomis: Zonia represents the next innocent, malleable generation. There is a sense that history will repeat itself if the proceeding generation is not taught differently
Keith David as Bynum Walker: Also comfortable with his identity as an African conjurer, Bynum is one of few characters that understands his own identity. Convinced of the fact that everyone has their own song, Bynum perpetuates the theme of identity and our constant search for it
Delroy Lindo as Seth Holly: Born of free African-American parents in the North, He is set in his ways; never losing his composure and always running a respectable house. He even condemns other African Americans that do not follow this kind of lifestyle. He is economically very capitalistic and does whatever is necessary to stay afloat; including working night shifts and odd craftsman jobs he can pick up from Selig. He understands his world on a very literal level, and doesn’t aspire to become more than he is.
Angela Bassett as Bertha Holly: As Seth’s wife, She knows her place in the hierarchy of the boardinghouse, yet still has some say in the decision making and will often voice her opinion. A very loving mother to the boardinghouse family. In the end, she tells Mattie that the only two things you need in your life are love and laughter; the things that she has had faith in and have helped her get by.
Meagan Good as Molly Cunningham: Molly represents the opposite of Mattie. Molly is young, attractive, and independent. Unwilling to let herself be told what to do anymore, by anyone, Molly is convinced that she will never return to the South and refuses be associated with anything that her old life entailed.
Sinqua Walls as Jeremy Furlow: Another resident of the boardinghouse, Jeremy is a guitar-playing 25-year-old. He came to the North looking for a job and a way in life. He works construction, putting in the new road outside of town. (Sidenote: Sinqua + a guitar = Terence melting)
Tessa Thompson as Mattie Campbell: a 25-year-old girl who is disappointed with her position in life and is looking for love.
Garrett Dillahunt as Rutherford Selig: The only white character in the play, Selig is a peddler who sells Seth’s goods. Known as the “People Finder”, Selig is from a family that first brought Africans across the Atlantic to become slaves. But now he unites people by recording the names and places of all the people he peddles to.
Directed By: Terence Johnson. Listen this is THE play that I’d die to direct and I almost didn’t do this one because I’m scared someone will get to it first lol.
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