Dr. Baron Kelly, a professor of Theatre and Drama at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, feels drawn to tell stories that deliver “benevolent gut-punches.” UW-Madison University Theatre’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” invites audiences to experience this powerful sensation.
“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” is the second of 10 plays in August Wilson’s iconic Century Cycle, capturing a period of African American history through the lens of a boarding house in 1911 Pittsburgh amid the Great Migration.
To Kelly, this particular play in the Century Cycle stands out as a history lesson on a lesser-known part of American history.
“[August Wilson] brings in the African American experience mixed with the struggle of the African experience, and how those two experiences have shaped Black folks in this country,” Kelly told The Daily Cardinal. “People have watched the rehearsals and said, ‘My god, I didn’t know. I did not know this.’”
Kelly directs and acts alongside a talented cast of UW-Madison students, professional actors and local youth on the Ronald E. Mitchell Theatre stage, which has been transformed into the intimate setting of Seth (Dwight Hicks) and Bertha Holly’s (Quanda Johnson) Pittsburgh boarding house.
Drawing inspiration from artist Romare Bearden’s “Mill Hand’s Lunch Bucket” — the same artwork that inspired Wilson to write “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” — the set’s colorful, rustic design introduces an element of magic and mystery to the story from the moment audiences enter the theater.
Among the first of the quirky cast of characters to be introduced is the mystical Bynum (Charls Sedgwick Hall), whose very presence on the stage — true to his name — is the force that binds each of the characters within the house into a sort of unlikely family. Hall’s loveable portrayal of Bynum brings a warm energy to the space that boosts the performances of every actor he shares the stage with.
Bynum has the exceptional ability to connect with anyone he encounters, and Hall embraces this unique trait as the core of Bynum’s character. He grants the same empathy to everybody, from the sweet, heartbroken Mattie Campbell (Jennifer Duarte Castillo) to the brash Molly Cunningham (J’Nya Smith).
These two actresses add beautifully contrasting displays of femininity into the story. Duarte Castillo is the heart of every scene she is in. She takes Mattie Campbell’s feelings of heartbreak and loss and presents them in a tear-jerking, authentically human way to evoke a strong sense of empathy and relatability.
Smith’s Molly Cunningham is drastically different but equally as impactful. She commands the stage with ease from the moment she enters to the moment she exits, embodying the boldness and independence of her character. Cunningham is the one character who manages to push the otherwise affable Bynum to a point of being unable to tolerate another person. Smith enhances this moment of the story with her realistic yet humorous and truly memorable brazenness.
Bynum’s affability is especially impactful in his relationship to the mysterious Herald Loomis (Baron Kelly), a boarder who carries the heavy burdens of his past in everything he does. The entire boarding house is changed by his arrival, and no one, including the audience, can fully solve the puzzle of what has made Loomis such an enigmatic person.
Kelly’s approach to the complex Herald Loomis brings an incredible humanity to the character. Through Kelly’s powerful acting, the audience is reminded that Loomis is not just an ominous and intimidating figure, but a father, a husband and a human whose life has been stolen from him.
“[Loomis is] a metaphor for the entire African American cultural struggle,” Kelly said. “I’ve thought about this man being spiritually wrenched from the life that he knew... to be put into this hellish situation, just hellish, and survive, and what he must have seen.”
“The impact of trauma and the power of healing,” Kelly believes, is one of the standout themes of “Joe Turner.” As both the actor playing Herald Loomis and the director of the play as a whole, Kelly has illuminated such powerful themes and presented them to the audience in a way that grants a newfound understanding of humankind as a whole.
“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” runs through March 9 in the Mitchell Theater.
