The Play Podcast - 049 - Jitney by August Wilson

Host: Douglas Schatz Guests: Wil Johnson and Tony Marshall

The Play Podcast is a podcast dedicated to exploring the greatest new and classic plays. In each episode we choose a single play to talk about in depth with our expert guest. We discuss the play’s origins, its themes, characters, structure and impact. For us the play is the thing.

Although August Wilson’s play Jitney is set in the office of an unlicensed taxi company in Pittsburgh in 1977, its themes, and the relationships and hopes and dreams of its characters are universal. The play is part of Wilson's reknowned ten play series known as the Pittsburgh Cycle, which charts the black American experience through each decade of the twentieth century.

I’m joined in this episode by the actors Wil Johnson and Tony Marshall, who are currently starring in the Old Vic’s vibrant new production of the play.