"Joe Turner's Come and Gone"

I feel that the meaning and purpose of this play was lost on me. Sandra Richars article "Yourubo Gods on the American Stage" made me realize how much deeper the play is than it seems. When first reading the play I saw nothing more than the story of the day to day life in a simple boarding house in Pittsburgh. Part of this comes from my own personal experience watching plays. I tend to go to a theatrical performance for the sole purpose of hearing an entertaining soty and escaping from reality for a short time. I try not to get too bogged down in the underlying meaning of the play. However, with this play I would not have understood the underlying meaning if I had tried. I had no knowledge of Youruba gods before reading teh text. And I certainly could not have told someone that August Turner's goal was to go about " creating a body of plays that will help African (US) Americans more fully embrace the African side of their 'double consciousness' ". The meaning of this play is lost on anyone who is not properly informed when they walk into the theater or pick up the text. I think that it would have been helpful in understanding the complexitiies of the play to read these article ahead of time.