Review: TWO TRAINS RUNNING at American Conservatory Theatre

Two Trains Running is the seventh work in two-time Pulitzer winning author August Wilsons Pittsburg Cycle and continued his chronicling of the Black experience post migration to the North. Set in Pittsburgh’s once prosperous Hill District, the play focuses on diner owner Memphis Lee, facing the pressures of economic decline caused by segregation, industrial restructuring, and suburbanization in the 1960s. With Wilson’s signature poetic voice and vivid character development, this production, produced by the Tony Award-winning The Acting Company, sparkles with beautiful acting and a spirit of resilience and hopefulness.

Wilson never pulled any punches in his indictment of the economics of poverty and Memphis (Michael A. Shepperd), who must decide the fate of his diner (get his asking price from the redevelopers or sell to a ruthless businessman),  rants over white man’s panic over the militarism of Blacks with guns. It’s 1968, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. have been assassinated, crime is up, and most of the characters presented here speak of their hard life lessons.

Wilson often included spiritual aspects into his cycle and here, the recurring character is 349-year-old Aunt Ester, an unseen symbolic figure representing wisdom and resilience and provides answers to the characters’ dreams and desires. Another aspect of Wilson plays is a mentally challenged character represented here in Hambone (Chuckie Benson), a character persistently demanding justice (a ham) he deserves for work done.

The characters wander in and out of the diner: Halloway (Michael J. Asberry), a community elder who calls everyone on their bullshit, Wolf (J’Laney Allen), the local numbers runner, West (Robert Cornelius), a well-off funeral director, and Sterling (James Milord), a recent parolee with big dreams. Risa (DeAnna Supplee) is the hardworking waitress who develops a courtship with Sterling. Many in the ensemble have either Wilson or Shakespeare experience and will be performing A Comedy of Errors in repertory with TTR. Wilson’s language bears a similarity to the Bard and flows authentically from these quintessential Black characters.

Two Trains Running continues through May 4th. Tickets available at act-sf.org/trains or by calling 415-749-2228.

Photo credits: Lore Photography Ventura