August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, the seventh in Wilson’s 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle will make its debut at the Two River Theater on February 3.
About August Wilson’s Two Trains Running
Set in Memphis Lee’s restaurant in the Hill District of Pittsburgh in 1969, Two Trains Running will star Harvy Blanks (West), Anthony Chisholm (Hambone), Chuck Cooper (Memphis), John Earl Jelks (Wolf), Owiso Odera (Sterling), Roslyn Ruff (Risa), and James A. Williams (Holloway). Ruben Santiago-Hudson will be directing this play.
Expert August Wilson interpreter Ruben Santiago-Hudson most recently directed a critically acclaimed production of The Piano Lesson for Signature Theatre. He made his Two River debut last season with Wilson’s Jitney, which played an extended run. Two Trains Running is the powerful, often funny, always compassionate story of ordinary people who find community and hope in a Pittsburgh diner amid the turbulent political upheaval and social change of the 1960s. It is the seventh in Wilson’s 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle chronicling the lives of African-Americans in each decade of the 20th century.
August Wilson grew up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, the setting for all but one of his plays. His work has been seen across the United States, as well as on Broadway and all over the world. Two Trains Running-for which Wilson was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee-had its debut at Yale Repertory Theatre in 1990 and opened on Broadway in 1992. The other plays in the Pittsburgh Cycle (also known as the Century Cycle) are Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes (for Fences and The Piano Lesson), a Tony Award for Fences, and Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney.
Director
Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson won the Tony Award for his performance in Wilson’s Seven Guitars and made his directorial debut with a production of Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean for McCarter Theatre and American Conservatory Theater. In addition to The Piano Lesson and Jitney, his other recent directing credits include Athol Fugard’s My Children! My Africa! for Signature Theatre. He won an Obie Award and critical acclaim for his solo show Lackawanna Blues, and his screenplay for the HBO adaptation received the Humanitas Prize, Christopher Award, National Board of Review Honors, and NAACP Image Award. He is currently writing a new play as a commission for Two River Theater.
Two Trains Running tickets
For ticket information for August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, please visit The Two River Theatre
