Seattle Rep's JITNEY: Beyond the Theatre
Seattle Rep presents JITNEY by August Wilson from February 28 to March 29, 2020. Librarians at Seattle Public Library created this list of books and films to enhance your experience of the show.
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Jitney
The script of JITNEY, for your reading pleasure.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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In Black and White
In this documentary Wilson talks about his childhood, self-education, writing, and work on the “Pittsburgh Cycle” (aka “Century Cycle”) plays, which includes JITNEY.
Format: Streaming Video
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August Wilson
Interviews with Wilson and fellow writers provide insights into the African American experience. Includes scenes from JITNEY, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and Two Trains Running.
Format: Streaming Video
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August Wilson
This documentary explores the legacy of Wilson with interviews, dramatic readings and rare footage, including scenes from JITNEY. Features James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Laurence Fishburne and Viola Davis.
Format: DVD
Availability: Available
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Just Above My Head
A man grieves for his brother in this sweeping family saga set in 1960s Harlem. Baldwin's novel is informed by the power of gospel music, as Wilson's work is of the blues.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Black Magic: Sabotage, Target Study, Black Art
Wilson frequently cited his “Four B’s” of influence: the blues, Borges, Bearden and Baraka, whose writing embraced the political. This collection of poetry focuses on Baraka’s separation from white society’s values.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Aleph
Borges was another of Wilson’s “Four B’s” of influence. As Mark William Rocha writes in “August Wilson and the Four B’s: Influences,” Wilson’s protagonists “each [conduct] a Borgesean quest to locate or lose a text.”
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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New/lost Plays by Ed Bullins
Wilson later amended his “Four B’s” to include playwright and former Black Panther Minister of Culture Ed Bullins, in whose work he found “someone writing plays about blacks with an uncompromising honesty.” (“The Paris Review,” Winter 1999)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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One Shot Harris
Harris, a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh’s Hill District, created a unique and stunning body of work documenting Black life and culture as a photographer for the “Pittsburgh Courier.”
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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August Wilson's Twentieth-century Cycle Plays
This literary guide examines Wilson’s life as well as the themes, settings and characters in his “Pittsburgh Cycle” plays, which includes JITNEY.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View August Wilson's Twentieth-century Cycle Plays
