Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Play

Writers: August Wilson

Overview

Show Information

Category
Play
Number of Acts
2
First Produced
1984
Genres
Settings
Unit/Single Set
Time & Place
august 1911. pittsburgh boardinghouse
Cast Size
medium
Ideal for
community, college/university, professional, College/University, Community Theatre, Ensemble Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Small Cast
Casting Notes
Mostly male cast
Includes mature adult, elderly, young adult, adult, child characters

Synopsis

It is 1911 in Pittsburgh at Seth and Bertha Holly’s boardinghouse. Seth and Bertha have a group of eccentric people staying at their home, including an old, spiritual man named Bynum and a young musician named Jeremy. Throughout the play, others arrive to stay: Mattie Campbell, a woman who is trying to get her boyfriend back, Molly Cunningham, a beautiful young woman who missed her train, and a mysterious man named Herald Loomis (and his daughter Zonia) who is looking to find his wife. The housemates are filled with questions about Loomis, and Seth wants him to leave. Bynum helps Loomis discover that he needs to find his song in order to move on, and when Loomis’s wife, Martha, shows up at the door, he does just that.

Lead Characters


Joe Turner’s Come and Gone guide sections