Joe Turner's Come and Gone with Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Joshua Boone

Throughout his life, the legendary and groundbreaking playwright August Wilson wrote ten plays chronicling the Black experience, decade by decade, throughout the twentieth century; what has been referred to as The Pittsburgh Cycle. Joe Turner’s Come and Gone takes us to the earliest chapter, 1911, just a few decades removed from the end of slavery, in the middle of the Great Migration, when hundreds of thousands of Black Americans were making their way north.

The play unfolds in a Pittsburgh boarding house run by Seth Holly, played by Cedric the Entertainer, who always seems to have a steady stream of wanderers passing through his doors. His wife, Bertha, played by Taraji P. Henson, keeps the household warm, steady, and welcoming. In their world is Bynum Walker, played by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and he’s considered a “conjure man” who speaks in riddles and visions, and of a "shiny man" he once encountered on the road, as this man carries the secret of binding people to their purpose, to “their song” as he says.

And then there's Herald Loomis, played by Joshua Boone. Seven years before the time of the play, Loomis was captured by Joe Turner, who is based on a real historical figure -- a white man in Tennessee connected to the governor who would capture Black men off the roads and force them into years of illegal servitude on his chain gang. By the time Loomis escapes, he has lost everything, including his sense of self. He arrives at the boarding house with his young daughter Zonia, desperate to find his wife Martha.

That is the setting of the play, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and everything that follows is truly must-see theater, thanks to the outrageous cast, the direction from Broadway legend Debbie Allen, Costume Design by Paul Tazewell, and Set design by David Gallo.

In this episode, host Alex Birsh (Playbill COO and SVP) brings on Tony nominee Joshua Boone and Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who was nominated for his portrayal of Bynum, to discuss their experience in the play and why this show is so meaningful to them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.