Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

media release: February 27-March 9, 2025,  at 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday (no show 3/7) and 2 pm Sunday, plus 2 pm on 3/1. Directed by Baron Kelly.

A boarding house in 1911 Pittsburgh serves as a way station for people in transition – Black migrants seeking new opportunities in the North and people running from the past. August Wilson’s powerful drama reaches deep into the well of a painful past to create a story of spiritual and emotional resurrection. Building on his work with 2023’s Fences, Dr. Baron Kelly continues his creative and scholarly investigation of Wilson’s work, speaking to the spiritual, cultural, social, and political connections in performance. A combined cast of professional and student actors will embody Wilson’s study of dislocation and the bonds of family and community.

This special production features professional guest actors Dwight Hicks, Quanda Johnson, Charls Sedgwick Hall, and Baron Kelly working alongside UW-Madison student actors Jennifer Duarte Castillo, J’Nya Smith, Jnae Thompson; and community members Norman Gilliland, Micah Mekelle Anderson, Noah Anthony Allison, and Blithe A. Matthews with UW-Madison student actors Joseph Bolden, Jayda Smith, and DeOnna Garrison as understudies.

Sandra Adell is the assistant director, Audrey Lauren Standish is the intimacy director, Whitney Derendinger is the violence director, Idy Ciss is the movement coach, Lily Zyndorf Shell is the dramaturg, Juliana Gessner is the scenic designer, Shelly Cornia is the costume designer, Lauren Zidek is the wig stylist, Megan Reilly is the lighting designer, assisted by Jove Steuber, Ryan Bertelson is the sound designer, Rob Wagner is the technical director, Isabel Osterhus is the props director, assisted by Abigail Brown, and Jahana Azodi is the stage manager, assisted by Miriam Hayes, Kendra Hill, and Allison Kowalczyk.

Content Advisory: This play contains mature content and language, including racial slurs, and depictions of violence.

For more information visit https://theatre.wisc.edu/

 This production is made possible by support from the Anonymous Block Grant, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and the Lorraine Hansberry Fund.

Performances will be held in the Ronald E. Mitchell Theatre, Vilas Hall 821 University Avenue

Preview: $15, Adult: $28, UW Faculty/Staff $23, Seniors 62+: $23, Children K-12 $10, Groups 10 or more: $17.