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Jitney
Old Vic
AUGUST WILSON’S Jitney is unique within his American Century Cycle as the only one of the 10 plays to be written and performed in the same decade – the 1970s.
But as with most of them, it’s set in the Hill District of Pittsburgh where Wilson was raised, on this occasion in an unlicensed cab rank owned by Jim Becker (Wil Johnson) where all the action occurs.
It’s an office buzzing with activity as Wilson’s patchwork of nine personalities orbit in and out, taking on journeys in an area where official taxis refuse to go. Despite that, the city authorities want to “tear down the whole block” and replace it with new housing. They are given just a few weeks’ notice before they must close. It’s a now familiar tale which will resonate with many in modern Britain.
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