Two Trains Running

Two Trains Running is one of the lesser known plays by August Wilson, in my opinion the greatest American playwright. Reading the script in this book makes you appreciate Wilson’s work, the characters he created, the beauty of their everyday speech, the humanity of his characters. Well worth the read.

August Wilson is a great American treasure. his Pittsburgh cycle is the great American story. Read them all and enrich your soul.

_Two Trains Running_ is the August Wilson "Century Series" play depicting the African-American experience in the 1960s. In a 1969 Pittsburgh diner, 6 men and a woman share vignettes about their lives and the "American Dream." Memphis, the owner of the diner, is about to have the city seize the restaurant under "immenent domain." Sterling, (who will play a significant role in Radio Golf) has just been released from prison and is enamored with the Black Power movement. West, the community's mortitian and Wolf, a number runner, are the wealthiest men in the Hill District. As these characters relate their lives, Wilson shows how the American Dream has been promised, and for so many, been denied.Memphis is frustrated and angry: he was run off his farm in Mississippi (with an allusion to The Piano Lesson (The August Wilson Century Cycle)), and now faces being run off of his business in Pittsburgh. Hambone, a homless (and possibly mentally ill) customer has similarly been cheated. Reflecting on the American Dream, Halloway says, "People kill me talking about (African-Americans) is lazy. (African-Americans) is the most hardworking people in the world. Worked three hundered years for free. And didn't take no lunch hour. Now all of a sudden (African-Americans) is lazy. Don't know how to work. All of a sudden when they got to pay (African-Americans), ain't no work for him to do."Wilson, however, asks us to consider whether the "American Dream" is merely about making money - both Wolf and West have made their money by exploiting and taking advantage of others, seeking to pull themselves up at the expense of their community. Sterling pays a visit to Mama Esther at 1839 Wylie (an allusion to Gem of the Ocean, where Mama Esther will "make you right") and is indeed made right, forgoing money in favor of love. This is reiterated by Holloway who tells the audience, "That's all you got. You got love and you got death. Death will find you ... it's up to you to find love. That's where most people fall down at. Death got room for everybody. Love pick and choose. ... most people won't admit that. ... Love got a price to it. Everybody don't want to pay. They put it on credit. Time it come due they got it on credit somewhere else."I was profoundly moved by _Two Trains Running_ - a reference to the fact that in life, there are always choices, always two trains running in different directions. Wilson, as with his other plays, poses profound questions about who we are as a nation, about the African-American experience, and that experience in the broader context of being an American. Here, however, he asks us to reconsider what choices we've made and what our values as individuals are. As if his other work hadn't already made him an American classic, _Two Trains Running_ certainly would. As with his other work, if you have an opportunity to see it performed, do not miss it.

August Wilson depict a black urban class struggle in America.It shows the typical conditions what black faces in America.Two Train are running is a great Master piece written in the 20th century.This piece is a great read for anyone to read!!

August Wilson proved that genius is never complicated, always simple and clear, and hugely enjoyable. His characters are always alive and their speech poetic. The ending could not be better. He was a poet writing plays. I loved the man. What a shame he did not love to write more! Great loss!

Written Dialog, if/when it is well done, becomes the more-than-adequate vehicle for subconscious thought as a playwright weaves characters in and out of scenes in the story's poignant progression from Act Beginning till Act Final. This play's dialog spotlights 1960 Black American Culture (in virtually any urban setting across the USA, including my hometown of Kansas City, MO) via the skillful positioning of People, Personality & Place. What a candid mix of anger, vulnerability, failure, humor, forgiveness, privacy, physical, victory and love!

Read ... add to my collection.

a great play!