"Joe Turner's Come and Gone"

The play "Joe Turner's Come and Gone", by August Wilson was one of my favorite plays we've read thus far. Wilson truly portrays society and the difficulties faced by many blacks during this time period. Being a history junkie I really enjoy reading plays and novels that are all about the culture of the time period. Wilson wrote his cycle of plays to do just that, depict the African American culture at different points throughout the nineteenth century. Without the deep infusion of the culture of this time period "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" would not have been as powerful as it was. It would have been a story about some people and a guy who has a magic spell that binds people. But, with the richness of culture the story is about this group of African Americans all at different points in their post-slavery life. You have Seth, a second generation freeman, Bynum, a former slave, Loomis, never in slavery but one of Joe Turner's men. The interaction between each of these people creates a wonderful dynamic on stage. Also a lot of the play is about how African Americans did a lot of coming and going during this time period. It's this coming and going that really pushes the plot to it's climax. So, I really enjoyed how much culture Wilson put into "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" and now want to read some of the other books from his cycle.