August Wilson set this play in a Pittsburgh boardinghouse in 1911, where Seth and Bertha Holly feed and house Black Americans moving north with almost nothing, and a stranger named Herald Loomis arrives looking for the wife who left him. Taraji P. Henson makes her Broadway debut as Bertha and Cedric the Entertainer plays Seth, with Debbie Allen directing and Ruben Santiago-Hudson in the company. It is the last weekend of a limited run that will not be back.
What to expect
A single-set drama that runs close to three hours with an intermission, built on long conversations at a kitchen table and one shattering group scene in the second act. The Barrymore is a mid-sized Broadway house, so sightlines are close even from the mezzanine. Expect a curtain call with real weight given that the run is ending.
Good to know
- The Barrymore is on West 47th between Broadway and Eighth, a short walk from the N/Q/R/W at 49th St.
- Closing performances sell fast, so digital lottery and rush entries are the realistic path to a cheap seat.
- Runtime is close to three hours, which matters if you are pairing it with a dinner reservation.
- The play is dense with dialect and Wilson's cycle mythology; reading a plot summary first genuinely helps.
- Mature themes including violence and family separation make this better suited to teens and up.
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Common questions
Do I need to know August Wilson's other plays?
No. Joe Turner's Come and Gone stands alone, though it sits inside Wilson's ten-play American Century Cycle and rewards anyone who has seen Fences or Ma Rainey.
Is Taraji P. Henson in every performance?
She is billed for the run as Bertha Holly in her Broadway debut. As with any Broadway show, understudies can go on, and the theater posts casting at the door.
How long is the show?
Plan for roughly three hours including one intermission.
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