What is the play Jitney about by August Wilson?
August Wilson’s play Jitney is set in 1977 in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, in a cab station dispatching jitneys, unlicensed cabs, to serve the African American community. The overriding theme in the play is the struggle for success experienced by the drivers and their families.
What is the plot of Jitney?
Plot Synopsis Jitney is August Wilson’s first play, written in and about the late 1970s in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. The action takes place in a run-down station of a gypsy cab company. Becker, who runs the station, is a world-weary man of a certain age who has just received a pair of bitter blows.
What happens at the end of Jitney?
Tragedy strikes unexpectedly when Becker, who has taken a second job at the steel mill where he used to work before retiring, is killed in an industrial accident. Booster breaks down in agony on hearing his father is dead, but at the end of the play appears ready to take his place as the head of the jitney station.
What is August Wilson’s unique contribution to understanding the African American experience?
August Wilson carved his signature on American theater by capturing the changing texture of black life in America his ten plays, each covering a different decade of the twentieth century.
What is the theme of the play Jitney?
“Jitney” is occupied with recurring Wilson themes: the gradual gentrification of the Hill District; the economic and psychological oppression that weighs down and sometimes divides the black community.
What is the theme of Jitney?
What is a jitney driver?
1 : an unlicensed taxicab. 2 [from the original 5 cent fare] : bus sense 1a especially : a small bus that carries passengers over a regular route on a flexible schedule.
Who wrote Jitney?
August Wilson
Jitney/Playwrights
Two of the contestants got it right: they guessed August Wilson, who is indeed the author of Jitney and the nine other plays, like Fences and The Piano Lesson, that make up his Pittsburgh or Century play cycle.
What did August Wilson accomplishments?
African American playwright August Wilson won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for his play ‘Fences’ and earned a second Pulitzer Prize for ‘The Piano Lesson. ‘
What key events happened during August Wilson’s upbringing that affected his life?
August Wilson’s Childhood Though bright and creative, he found student life difficult. Racially bullied at one school, bored at the next and accused of cheating at another, he secretly dropped out of high school in his early teens.
What kind of vehicle is a jitney?
noun, plural jit·neys. a small bus or car following a regular route along which it picks up and discharges passengers, originally charging each passenger five cents.
Where does the play Jitney by August Wilson take place?
Jitney is the eighth play in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle. It takes place in The Hill District of Pittsburgh in 1977, in a gypsy cab station, during Pittsburgh’s period of so-called “urban renewal.”
What was the theme of the play Jitney?
The play’s various character profiles and sub-plots are glued together by the theme of relationships. The play examines the the tumultuous relationship between father and son; husband and wife; black and white Americans; and the relationships between the jitney station regulars.
What was the relationship between father and son in Jitney?
The play examines the the tumultuous relationship between father and son; husband and wife; black and white Americans; and the relationships between the jitney station regulars. The lives and dynamics between the people of the jitney station can be seen as a microcosm of American society as a whole during that time period.
What are the two acts of Jitney divided into?
On the walls of the run-down room hang a pay telephone and a sign with owner Jim Becker’s rules, such as keeping one’s car clean, not overcharging, and not drinking. The play’s two acts are each divided into four scenes.