A Tale of Humanity

from Intermission February 2022

Love Is In the Air

Started in the early ‘70s, Theatre North was organized in order to give African American actors a chance at the valuable roles that they had been denied in the past. In 1977, Maybelle Wallace got involved by accident, taking her daughter to rehearsals and eventually becoming the executive director.

According to Wallace, Theatre North “for many, many years, and possibly even now, is the only Black community theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And we have raised the consciousness in Tulsa, Oklahoma, concerning the Black experience in America.”

As part of that journey toward raising the collective consciousness, Theatre North has often used the works of August Wilson, whom the New York Times called the “theatre’s poet of Black America.” Wilson’s works have meant a great deal of success for Theatre North, including their Tate Award win for “Seven Guitars.”

Now, Theatre North brings another of Wilson’s classics to Tulsa: “Jitney.” Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1977, it tells the story of a jitney cab company trying to survive. Jitneys were unofficial, unlicensed taxi services operating out of Black communities because licensed taxi services would not serve Black communities.

As gentrification finds its way to the Black community, the jitney company owners find themselves trying to hold onto their building and their community. It is, according to Wallace, a problem that still persists to this day.

The play will be directed by Willie Minor Jr., who has made quite a name for himself nationally as an actor, director and more. Originally brought to Tulsa to direct another Theatre North production, “Greenwood: An American Dream Destroyed,” he returns to direct this important piece.

A Vietnam veteran, Minor recalls a story about himself and a white soldier fighting in Vietnam. Suddenly the two were fired on by the enemy and had to work together despite their differences. That, he says, changed him.

According to Minor, everyone in America was trying to find themselves in the ‘70s and a new Black consciousness was forming. “’Jitney’ explores that,” says Minor. “We are all people, regardless of race, creed or color. We all come from the same cloth and want the same things,” he says. He adds, “There is no difference. We are all human, and the sooner we realize that, the better.” “Jitney” helps to tell that story — a human story about survival in difficult times.