A show with a mixture of brilliant and mediocre performances that you continue thinking about afterwards, but not always in a positive light.
Jitney is a an Old Vic, Headlong & Leeds Playhouse co-production playing until the 9th July following a run at the Leeds playhouse in November 2021. Directed by Tinuke Craig (The Color Purple) and following an acclaimed run at Leeds Playhouse, August Wilson‘s (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) ground-breaking modern classic explores the fragile bond between eight men as they live, love and work in a racially segregated, post-Vietnam America
This show for me, was a very mixed performance. There were some very strong moments that were entertaining, laugh inducing, and genuinely tense, and other moments that seemed to drag on for too long and didn’t really add much to the show.
Some of the highlights include the performances of Leanne Henlon as Rena and Soloman Israel as Youngblood. Leanne Henlon in particular brought incredible energy, humour, and emotion to the too few scenes that she was in, and her performance was matched by Soloman Israel in an excellent scene in the second act which I only wish had been a larger part of the show as a whole. Sule Rimi as Turnbo delivered an incredible comedic performance early in the show, and then expertly twisted it during a very tense scene which had me very much on the edge of my seat.
Without wishing to negatively mention specific actors, there were some very ropey accents on display. Some of the accents were inconsistent from scene to scene, and sometimes inconsistent within the same sentence. This was unnecessarily distracting, and I felt that some of the actors were hamstrung by focusing on trying to do the accents correctly, which then took away from their performances. This led to some of the performances seeming either dull and uninterested or over the top and cartoonish.
This play, very much in the style of Chekhov, was a slice of life. There was one set throughout with characters coming and going and interacting with each other. There is a threadbare ongoing narrative throughout the show, but the real focus is on the relationships between the characters in this very naturalistic world. This made the choice of showing the passage of time by having the actors move in stylised “fast forward” confusing and did not seem to be very in keeping with the rest of the show. This only occurred a few times during the show, but this made its oddness even more apparent. In other moments in the show, the passage of time is shown merely through the changing lighting on the stage as the sun sets or rises, and this felt much more effective and truer to the world we were inhabiting.
A particular positive mention, however, does have to go to Elliott Griggs who did the lighting for this production. The lighting design and execution was impeccable and beautifully done. It helped to wonderfully set the scene and make the show seem more believable while also being very visually appealing.
In conclusion, this production does have some brilliant moments when the script, actors, set, and lighting all work together to create some brilliant theatre. Unfortunately, these moments are not consistent throughout the show and are ultimately let down by other performances.