Joe Turner's Come and Gone
In the article "Yoruba Gods on the American Stage", Richards says in the opening sentence that there are two central elements to Joe Turner's Come and Gone, memory and desire. She says that the characters shared memories with each other while in the boarding house in Pittsburgh. One of the memories was a story about the shiny man which tells travelers to find their "song".
When I first read Joe Turner's Come and Gone, what I really enjoyed was the language of the play. I could actually visualize the characters talking because the slang they used seemed so realistic. But language aside, it was hard for me to recognize anything that was going on below the surface of the script itself. Having no background in African culture, I had never heard of the Yoruba gods. Wilson implanted a deep meaning while writing this play, and it seems the targeted audience, those of African cultural background, are the ones who will take the most from this play. Articles such as this one by Richards, are helpful to those of us, such as myself, who do not fully understand and need assistance in finding the real, deep meaning.
Important things to remember from the text:
The end of the play- he slashes himself, not stab (Loomis)
-"Blood make you clean? you clean with blood?"-loomis
-"I'm standing!"-loomis after he slashes himself across the chest- cuts himself to remind himself that he is alive
-"Alright, let's Juba down!" -Bynum when they start their call and response dance
Labels: Brad Jones
posted by Brad @ 9:48 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
It is interesting that you found the slang helpful in visualizing the characters. Though the slang seemed to be realistic, I found that the slang made it difficult for me to understand what was going on. It was hard for me to read through; I wish I could have seen it performed instead. I frequently had to reread pages of the play. Also, I do not have extensive knowledge of African culture, and I found the articles helpful in my understanding of the play. Do you think that it is more helpful to study the history of a play’s theme after reading it or before reading it?
I find it very interesting that you picked up on the realism of the language. Was the slang used in the article like some of the slang terms used in society today? I myself did not read this specific article, but the title alone seemed to tell me that it would be a hard read. What did you compare this article to while you were reading it? Anything? I think you hit the nail on the head with this meditation, especially about the target audience not only being African Americans, but anyone with an African American background.
Pamela, I feel like it's important to learn about the history of this particular play after you've seen it so that you know where in the play the history was, rather than going in and not knowing when to expect it. If you find something confusing in the play, I feel like it's more helpful to then go research it after the fact.
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