Jitney - Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company

By August Wilson
Directed by Mark Clayton Southers
An outdoor production at August Wilson House, 1727 Bedford Avenue in the Lower Hill
August 12th-September 18th 2022, Thursday-Saturday at 8 PM, and Sunday at 5 PM
2 hours 20 minutes plus intermission

“Nothing short of magical” – Dr. Tiffany Raymond, onStage Pittsburgh

August Wilson’s Jitney is a compelling drama which depicts the lives of the drivers at a jitney cab station in the Hill District in 1977. PPTCO first produced this August Wilson classic in 2010. Co-presented with August Wilson House. Learn more about our phenomenal cast or read the Jitney program!

“The play dazzles…. Wilson’s dialogue is poetic, filled with wit and verve and the cast is superb.” – Michael Buzzelli, Burgh Vivant

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company presents August Wilson’s classic drama Jitney, which depicts the lives of the drivers at a jitney cab station in the Hill District in 1977.

The production was performed outdoors, in the back yard of August Wilson House, Wilson’s childhood home in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, and now revitalized as an arts center for the Hill. Jitney was co-presented with August Wilson House. In the event of inclement weather, we switched to an indoor location, where we built a duplicate set, at our new home, the former Madison Elementary School at 3401 Milwaukee Street in the Upper Hill, about 1.5 miles from our outdoor space.

“A top-notch, well acted play full of humor, drama, and humanity” – Rick Handler, Entertainment Central

PPTCO founder and producing artistic & executive director Mark Clayton Southers directed the production, which featured Sala Udin as Becker, Jonathan Berry as Booster, Chuck Timbers as Doub, Boykin Anthony as Philmore, EIexa Hanner as Rena, Roosevelt Watts as Shealy, Richard McBride as Youngblood, Mike Traylor as Fielding, and Les Howard as Turnbo. Selected performances featured Kevin Brown as Becker or Dionysius Akeem as Youngblood. Read the Jitney program here.

“Director Mark Clayton Southers has gathered together an ensemble of actors who seem to understand the characters who populate the late 1970s Hill District deep in their bones…. What the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company is doing in the August Wilson House yard feels like a magic time travel trick, and it’s one that couldn’t be achieved anywhere else in the world.” – Dr. Wendy Arons, Pittsburgh Tatler

Previews: City Paper, onStage Pittsburgh, Trib, New York Times

Reviews: Entertainment Central, Burgh Vivant, onStage Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh OwlScribe, Pittsburgh Tatler

Retrospective: Post-Gazette

Audio interview: Actors Talk August