Debbie Allen's revival of August Wilson's 1984 play, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, has arrived on Broadway with a compelling cast but fails to capture the full magic of the original. The production, the third since its premiere, stars Taraji P Henson and Cedric the Entertainer alongside Joshua Boone and Ruben Santiago-Hudson, yet struggles with uneven direction and staging.
Set in a Pittsburgh boardinghouse in 1911, the play is part of Wilson's Century Cycle, exploring the African American experience in each decade of the 20th century. The story follows Herald Loomis (Boone), a man traumatised by slavery and systemic racism, as he searches for his estranged wife. The boardinghouse is run by Seth and Bertha Holly (Cedric and Henson), with spiritual guidance from Bynum (Santiago-Hudson), a mystic who uses 'binding songs' to connect people.
Allen's direction emphasises Loomis's menace, but this unbalances the ensemble piece. Characters like Selig, a white 'people finder' with a troubling past, Molly, a sultry traveller, and Reuben, a neighbour's child, feel sidelined. The staging confines actors to the kitchen table, leaving much of the set—a cosy living room and a stairway to heaven—unused. Paul Tazewell's costumes, while striking, misjudge Loomis's attire with a slick coat and wide-brimmed hat that overstate his threat.
Performances are strong: Boone captures Loomis's simmering dread, Santiago-Hudson is transcendent as Bynum, and Henson and Cedric excel in their supporting roles. However, the production's magic realism fails to fully convince, and the play's lyricism is not matched by the direction. The result is an uneven revival that, despite its talents, lacks the transcendent quality of Wilson's best work.
