August Wilson's Two Trains Running

Full Length Play, Drama / 6m, 1f

Finalist! 1992 Pulitzer Prize in Drama

"Wilson has written roles for actors to love, complete with riffs and full blown emotional arias." - New York Newsday

August Wilson's Two Trains Running

Cast Size
6m, 1f
Duration
More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
Subgenre
Period
Accolades
Tony, Pulitzer, From Broadway
Target Audience
- Adult

Additional Info

This is the 1960s chapter of the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright's decade by decade saga of ordinary African Americans in this turbulent century. It takes place in Memphis Lee's coffee shop in a Pittsburgh neighborhood that is on the brink of economic development. Focus is on the characters who hang out there: a local sage, an elderly man who imparts the secrets of life as learned from a 322 year old sage, an ex con, a numbers runner, a laconic waitress who slashed her legs to keep men away, and a retarded man who was once cheated out of a ham. With Chekhovian obliqueness, the author reveals simple truths, hopes and dreams, creating a microcosm of an era and a community on the brink of change.

Accolades

Finalist! 1992 Pulitzer Prize in Drama
August Wilson is the recipient of the 1986 Whiting Award for Drama.

Reviews

REVIEWS

"Wilson has written roles for actors to love, complete with riffs and full blown emotional arias." - New York Newsday

"The most comic of the Wilson cycle so far." — The Christian Science Monitor

"Wilson's most delicate and mature work." — Time

"Wilson's most adventurous and honest attempt to reveal the intimate heart of history." — The New York Times

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

How Does Theatre Centered on the Black Experience Hold Up with Predominantly White Audiences?
Reginald L. Douglas
February 21, 2019

Keywords

Illness/Health, Black/African-American Interest

Considerations

Performing Groups

College Theatre / Student
Community Theatre
Professional Theatre
Large Stage
Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups

Cautions

Strong Language
Mild Adult Themes

License details

Minimum Fee: $125 per performance

Production

Details

Time Period: 1960s
Duration: More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
Setting: Memphis Lee's coffee shop in a Pittsburgh neighborhood that is on the brink of economic development.

Casting

6m, 1f

HAMBONE
STERLING
MEMPHIS
HOLLOWAY
WOLF
RISA
WEST

See all +

Cast Attributes

Role(s) for Black Actor(s)

Resources

Scripts

Authors

August Wilson

August Wilson (April 27, 1945-October 2, 2005) authored

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Two Trains Running premiered at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway in 1992.

August Wilson's Two Trains Running

August Wilson's Two Trains Running