Jitney – The Old Vic, London (LAST CHANCE TO SEE)

A review of Jitney, part of August Wilson’s ten play cycle on a century of Black life in America, and on now at the Old Vic. An Old Vic, Headlong and Leeds Playhouse co-production.

Jitney

Definition of jitney:
1. An unlicensed taxicab
2. Bus. Especially: a small bus that carries passengers over a regular route on a flexible schedule
3. Slang: a nickel

Jitney Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster

Maybe you, like me, were not familiar with the term jitney. A jitney is basically an unlicensed cab: the name derives from a slang term for a nickel, which was at one time the fare. Jitney the play, by August Wilson, takes place in Pittsburgh, in the office of Becker’s (Wil Johnson) jitney service. Drivers and assorted others come and go between fares. It’s the sort of place where things happen in the down time: relationships are forged, tempers flare, news arrives from the outside. Not a bad premise for a play exploring Black lives, community and gentrification.

Jitney is part of August Wilson’s American Century cycle. Wilson wrote ten plays, each set in a different decade, and nine of the ten taking place in Pittsburgh. The tenth, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, is set in Chicago. Jitney is the only one of the cycle to have been written in the decade it is set. It was also the first one Wilson wrote. It only really found success after substantial rewrites in later years.

I had a little trouble making sense of my response to Jitney. I’m glad I saw it, as a play with an interesting perspective. I thought the direction was good, the set, costume and lighting design were excellent. Director Tinuke Craig really gets a lot out of the actors. Yet at the same time, I found the first half dragged a little. I think that for me, it’s something to do with 1970s plays that leaves me struggling to immerse myself in their world. I had the same feeling about The Death of a Black Man: there’s just something a little static and dialogue-heavy about theatre from this period. Without editing the whole thing down, there’s only so much you can do to overcome a limitation like that!

A Slick Production

To be fair, the creative team did do their best. The set, by Alex Lowde, is surrounded by a screen onto which video by Ravi Deepres is projected. This lifts the action out of this one small office, into the wider context of a changing Pittsburgh. Max Perryment’s score is subtle yet underpins the action. And movement director Sarita Piotrowski really does a fabulous job (with fights choreographed by Kev McCurdy), creating a real energy and dynamism on stage.

Yet it just felt slow, especially in the early scenes. Perhaps this is also that a lot of the characters are under constraints of some form or another. Becker’s son Booster (Blair Gyabaah) has just returned from serving time in prison. Youngblood (Solomon Israel) is back from Vietnam and trying to juggle family commitments. Fielding (Tony Marshall) struggles with addiction. And so on. It’s interesting the way that Wilson is able to present both sides of the various conflicts that take place, so that we see where each character is coming from and don’t have the comfort of a clear right and wrong side. But overall as a play it just didn’t quite work for me.

I don’t to take away from some very good performances by offering this critique. I liked Sule Rimi’s Turnbo, always animated, especially when getting into everyone’s business. Geoff Aymer’s long-suffering Doub is a good foil. And although I was surprised at the extremes of on-stage anguish which the Becker/Booster reunion reached, both Wil Johnson and Blair Gyabaah depicted two of the more understated characters with great aplomb. Especially the latter, an understudy who seems to have stepped in for multiple performances.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Jitney on at the Old Vic until 9 July 2022, then on tour