R. Hornsby and M.B. White

Los Angeles, California —  Seven characters. Seven desires. Seven stories. Seven struggles. One goal: Do not miss the train!

The year is 1969. The city is Pittsburgh. The tales of seven African Americans converge at a local diner. A story is told through the eyes of August Wilson.

That story is Two Trains Running, a compelling social commentary seen through seven characters convincingly played by a fine cast that is both intelligent and comedic.

With politics played in Washington, D.C., social movements held in Alabama, rock-and-roll disturbing the peace at Woodstock, and money exchanging hands in New York City, all Memphis Lee (Glynn Turman) wants is a tidy yet fair profit for his once-popular urban diner in Pittsburgh.

Turman brilliantly portrays Lee, whose pursuit of fairness and justice paints a bigger picture of the mindset of a group of African Americans who pay more attention to financial freedom than the socio-political climate of their day.

With Martin Luther King, Jr. mentioned just once, and Malcolm X a faint target of cynicism, Two Trains Running focuses on a different kind of politics -– that of inner-city dealings. In an era defined by white versus black, the only color that ultimately mattered to these seven characters was green.

At Lee’s diner, we meet five local –- and colorful -– regulars and an attractive yet jaded waitress. Each is out to make a quick buck. Each has his or her own agenda. Each has his or her own perception of justice.

In the course of pursuing justice, most of the characters took up a game of numbers, hoping for a big payday due to the game’s 600:1 odds.

For Lee, justice came in the form of a fair price for his diner, which was targeted by city planners for a redevelopment plan in the area. Years of labor invested and countless memories forged, Lee holds out on the imminent sale for a bigger cause –- seeking retribution from a landowner in Jackson, Mississippi.

E. Billings

In his eyes, social equality had a price tag, and his diner would provide him with the funds to make a big purchase. The only question: was he willing to pay a steeper price if his plans did not succeed?

Lee was not the only one with plans.

Entering the diner with trepidation -– and an empty stomach –- Sterling (Russell Hornsby) is fresh out the penitentiary and hopes to land a well-paying job while he settles down with the girl of his dreams.

That girl turns out to be the very person taking his order — Risa (Michole Briana White), a beautiful yet headstrong cynic who is equally caring and guarded. Coincidentally, she is not much of a waitress.

While she guards against her eventual attraction to Sterling, Risa is just as caring and passionate of Hambone (Ellis E. Williams), a principled man who only wants the ham promised to him as payment for someone’s wall he painted almost ten years ago.

“I WANT MY HAM!” Hambone would yell as he entered the diner everyday for nine-and-a-half years. “I AM GON’ GET MY HAM!” he exclaimed to Risa, Sterling, Memphis, or anyone else who would be within a few feet of him.

Attempting to explain Hambone’s plight in the context of politics, justice, and karma, Holloway (Roger Robinson) metaphorically explains to Memphis the loud-mouthed customer’s pursuit of ham is much too principled a cause for either to grasp.

In the midst of talking politics, Holloway also speaks in mythical cult tongues, constantly talking about an alleged 322-year-old fortune teller named Aunt Ester who lives down the street from the diner at 1839 Wiley Avenue.

Ignoring Holloway’s talks of mysticism and politics, Wolf (Felton Perry) just makes due by taking bets for the ever-popular numbers game.

Thrown into the mix is an undertaker who operates across the street from Memphis’s diner and undercuts Lee’s efforts to sell his diner. Just as everyone else, the only color that mattered was green.

As the stories develop and come to a tee, a blatant parallel is struck between Hambone and Memphis. Both sought their own version of justice, and each man’s quest came at a high cost.

R. Robinson

Hambone was promised a ham when he painted a wall. When he was complete, he was instead offered two chickens for his work. For nearly a decade, he refused the chickens, instead demanding his ham.

Lee wonders how Hambone could be so adamant for nine-plus years, observing that there was nothing wrong in accepting the chickens.

Ironically, Lee wanted his own ham, turning down the chickens offered for his diner so he could have his own brand of justice back home in Jackson.

Seven characters. Seven stories. One question: what is the best way to achieve freedom?

Two Trains Running is part of a ten-play series of playwright August Wilson, whose literary legacy, the Pulitzer-winning The Pittsburgh Cycle, set stories in a different decade. Through each story, Wilson’s play depicts the tragic yet comic tales of the African-American experience in the 20th century.

There are five shows remaining at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, located near L.A.’s historic West Adams district –- three shows run on the evenings of November 6th through 8th, while there are also two matinees on November 8th and 9th.

Tickets are $20 for Thursday evening and Sunday evening, while Friday and Saturday evenings are $30.

Two Trains Running has eight acts with a 15-minute intermission; approximate running time is three hours.