Joe Turner’s Come And Gone

Critiqued by Holly Bartges

Joe Turner’s Come And Gone in 1911 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come And Gone at the Shadow Theatre Company.

It’s good he’s come and gone, but too bad he’s come and gone at Shadow. Would that the run could have been extended.

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

His eyes dark, distant, cringed with a long ago anger. Don’t ask him any questions. He’ll only stare sharply and blankly. An electric meanness surges through a room when he enters. He certainly is not anyone you’d want to meet in a dark alley. How would you feel if he was a border in your house? He says his name is Harold Loomis, and says the little girl with him is his daughter, Zonia, and he’s looking for his wife.

How can you trust someone with hard, cold eyes, someone who flies off the handle at any unsuspecting moment?

Seth Holly can’t and won’t. He’s convinced something unsavory is going on, making no bones talking about it loudly, clearly, and to the point.

Sensitively and insightfully directed by Jeffrey Nickelson, the deeply human perceptive play became an awesome mind blower during its run. The stage had been magnificently transformed through Michael R. Duran’s set design featuring Seth and Bertha’s Boardinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that reflected the comfortable, but relatively plain 1911 Boarding House with view of the kitchen, dining room, living room, and backyard with the shed Seth makes his pots, and a swing, providing a shy young girl a taste of peace.

Karalyn star Pytel’s lighting design laughed, cried, swung, and danced side by side with the interaction of the household. So imbedded in the production, you almost didn’t realize it was there.

Cajardo Lindsey allowed Harold to engulf him with a penetrating magnetic performance. You know Harold has a story to tell, an uncomfortable, chilling story, so much a part of our history; so much a part of us. In his own way and in his own time he levels. You’re right and Seth is wrong. Seth earns a living making pots and pans, a simple down to earth man with a heart as big as all outdoors encumbered by a suspicious mind. Seth enveloped Timothy C. Johnson through an honest appreciation for what this man has gone through and where he came from, as well as the 1911 society that enveloped him. At first, the loud monotone bothered me, until I realized that was Seth, and needed to be taken for exactly what it was. The outstanding performance was tempered by the loving, caring perceptiveness of Bertha played wondrously strong but gentle by Debbie Johnson Lee. Rough around the edges as Seth is, Bertha knows him, understands him, and loves him still.

Kurt Soderstrom poured wondrous energy into Rutherford Selig a jack-of-all-trades, a roving salesman, a do- whatever-needs-to-be-done man, carrying a knack for finding people. He knows his customers, he knows how to read people, he knows how to get information without being disarming, while parading a boisterous sense of humor. Soderstrom signaled total delight.

The shy little girl, who sometimes flashed fear, grew confident before your eyes under Bertha’s gentle hand and flirtations by Terrance William’s Rueben Mercer while she swung in the backyard. Jaliah Peter’s contains awesome talent for a 14-year old. With her defined comprehension of the depth of the human spirit, she will one day make her mark on the theatre world. Mark my words.

Joe Turner’s Come And Gone takes place within a few days of everyday life in the Holly household. The plot soft. No big mystery to solve, no major conflict to unwind, no planned comedic episode to thrash out, just a moment by moment unraveling of every day 1911 life in the Negro community with powerful punches involving the ramifications of slavery, equality, poverty, self esteem, and the individual search for his/her own song binding humanity together whether red, black, white, brown, blue, or green, whether its 1911 or 2008 the basic needs, wants, desires remain the same. Technology has certainly changed the way our kitchens look from the simple wood stove, and plain wood table to ours filled with all kinds of amazing gadgets. Kitchens around the world are filled with the incredible Bertha’s supplying the glue that keeps people of all sorts tied together.

With guitar in hand, Jeremy Furlow struggles to keep a job. He yearns for something more than just doing something for someone else, getting paid very little. Authority doesn’t fit him well. Seth Michael did wonders for Jeremy in bringing him alive. You could see the vitality in Jeremy’s eyes he can’t yet recognize.

Mattie Campbell’s man left her, alone. He’s coming back. She knows he is. That’s what she says. Look in her eyes and you know she knows in her heart of hearts he isn’t. Kristin Adele Carroll wrapped herself snugly into Mattie’s frightened, lost, broken heart. Jeremy stirs something within her. Jeremy gives her hope even though she confuses feeling sorry for personal interest. Jeremy does care about her until Molly Cunningham deliciously played by Kimberly Nicole waltzes into the midst with her oozing sensuality and gorgeous expensive clothes side by side with her “take me I’m yours celebratory attitude. I had a monkey once who careened with the attitude of “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine too”. Nicole’s Molly, along with her self-centered playfulness, tucked a common decency directly under the surface of this devil-may-care soul.

Mark Morgan takes on Seth’s neighbor Bynum Walker who consistently annoys Seth, consistently rubs him wrong. Behind the bristling interference, an unbroken bond keeps them together. Morgan’s Bynum didn’t see himself as annoying. Bynum probably didn’t think much about himself at all. He just did whatever his fancy told him to. He might not be the neighbor we’d want, but Morgan gave him free spirited confidence.

One of the most poignant moments comes when Martha Pentecost follows Selig into the house. She and Harold stand eyeball to eyeball not knowing what to say or how to say it. Joe Turner separated them. They spent years looking for each other, and now they stand only feet apart, what is there to say?

Tyrongela Ross gave Martha a wearied hard look from a toilsome difficult life, but you could see the heartbreak, the determination, the anxiety, and the yearning wrapped in her soul from Ross’ performance.

As the lives intertwine, unravel, meld, bounce in and out of conversation, silence, and song, 1911 and 2008 come together with the sensibility of similarities shared by all humanity.

Shadow’s new theatre in Aurora may look like a storefront from the outside, but sound thought and artistic planning went into the gorgeous design inside the front door from the spacious lobby featuring bar and art gallery to the comfortable Jeffrey Nickelson Auditorium.

Joe Turner’s Come And Gone, but the quality of the production signals a wake up call not to miss next season featuring Smokey Joe’s Café opening February 12, 2009, Neil Simon’s Oscar and Felix, opening May 17, and Crunk, a world premier with neighborhood kids opening August 6. Mark the 2009 calendar now.