Two Trains Running
March 30 - April 25
Written by August Wilson
Directed by Ron OJ Parson
Co-Produced by Nazareth College
“Glorious storytelling”
The New York Times
“Fierce brilliance burns at the core of this story.”
Variety
The Story:
Can you fight city hall? This neighbor gives it his best shot.
1968. Change is in the air. In Memphis Lee’s diner, the regulars gather every day to trade news and play the numbers. The restaurant is slated for “urban renewal” as Memphis tries to negotiate a fair price for it from the city. He’s just one man looking for a fair deal at a time when the whole country is asking if such a thing even exists.
The Experience:
With “lush dialogue. . . spoken by fascinatingly vital characters,” Two Trains Running is one of Wilson’s most accessible, funny and optimistic plays.
Performance Calendar
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |||||||
| 28 | May |
29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | April |
2 | 3 | |||||
| 7:30 PM | 7:30 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 2:00 PM | |||||||||
| 8:00 PM | |||||||||||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||||||
| 2:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 4:00PM | ||||||||
| 7:00 PM | 8:30PM | ||||||||||||
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | |||||||
| 2:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 7:30 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00PM | 4:00 PM | ||||||||
| 7:00 PM | 8:30PM | ||||||||||||
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | |||||||
* |
2:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 2:00 PM | ^ |
7:30 PM | 8:00PM | 4:00PM | ||||||
| 7:00 PM | 7:30PM | 8:30PM | |||||||||||
| 25 | |||||||||||||
| 2:00 PM | *Audio-Description Performance Sunday April 18 @ 2:00 PM | ||||||||||||
| 7:00 PM | ^Sign-Interpretation Performance Thursday April 22 @ 7:30 PM | ||||||||||||
Plan your visit
Running time: 3 hours 10 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission.
Prologue: a thirty-minute background talk is offered free of charge one hour prior to every performance.
. (An abbreviated Prologue is given 30 minutes prior to curtain on Opening Night.)
Student Matinee performances are available: click here.
Special events and services during this production
- Opening Night: Saturday, April 3, 8:00PM
- Early Curtain Tuesday: April 6, 6:00PM
- Audio-Described performance: Sunday, April 18, 2:00PM
- Free Reading of Jitney:
- Sign-Interpreted performance: Thursday, April 22, 7:30PM
- Sunday Salon: April 25, 2:00PM
An informal question and answer session with members of the cast will follow the matinee performance.
Dining & Entertainment
Click here to check out the Geva Café or look below for more options in the area!
Eros Restaurant |
The Trip Hammer Grill |
Siam Fine Thai Cuisine |
Tasteful Connections Catering |
The Little Theatre |
Palladio Restaurant |
Edibles Restaurant |
Pomodoro Grill & Wine Bar |
Golden Port |
Cast and Crew Bios
RONALD L. CONNER (Wolf) is delighted to make his Geva Theatre Center debut in Two Trains Running. He is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and currently resides in Chicago with his family, where he is an ensemble member of Congo Square Theatre. He was last seen on stage at the Court Theatre in the lead role of Boy Willie in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. His Chicago credits include The Talented Tenth (2008 Black Theatre Alliance Award for Best Actor in an Ensemble), The African Company Presents Richard III and Deep Azure at the Congo Square Theatre, The Piano Lesson and The First Breeze of Summer at the Court Theatre, SS! Taming of the Shrew and SS! Romeo and Juliet at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The Oresteia at Greasy Joan & Co. and Short Eyes for urbantheatreco. Regional credits include The Piano Lesson for Portland Stage Company; Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The River Niger and Macbeth for St. Louis Black Repertory Company and Gem of the Ocean for Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. Commercial credits include KFC and currently the Coors Light National Campaign for the NFL. Mr. Conner also was featured as a sniper in The Dark Knight.
ALLEN EDGE (West) makes his Geva Theatre Center debut in Two Trains Running. Mr. Edge is an actor, director, producer and comedian with over forty years in the performing arts. He has worked with the Goodman Theatre, E.T.A. Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, the Black Ensemble Theatre Company, Portland Stage Company, First Stage Children’s Theatre, Court Theatre and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He was also featured in a number of commercials and films, including Barbershop 2 and Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns. Mr. Edge is also a member of Toastmasters International. He has a B.A. in Theatre from Columbia College Chicago.
JAVON JOHNSON (Sterling) makes his Geva Theatre Center debut with Two Trains Running. He is a founding ensemble member of Congo Square Theatre Company. Stage credits include Mickey in Memoirs of a Junkie at Stage52 in Los Angeles, the title role in The Stuttering Preacher at the Complex in Hollywood, Flip in Stick Fly for the McCarter and True Colors, Herald Loomis in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone for Baltimore Centerstage and the Goodman/Congo Square, Red Carter in Seven Guitars, Young Ali in Ali and Wendell Bailey in Before it Hits Home for Congo Square, Sherman in Cryin’ Shame for St. Louis Black Repertory and Kuntu Repertory, Tone in Deep Azure at the Apollo Theatre for the NY Hip Hop Theatre Festival, the Provost in Measure for Measure for Pittsburgh Public, Asagai in A Raisin in the Sun for City Theatre, Guy in Blues for an Alabama Sky for Kuntu Repertory, Cory in Fences, Pericles in Pericles, Macbeth in Macbeth, and Joe in Pill Hill. Mr. Johnson is the recipient of the 2009 Black Theater Alliance Award for Best Play (Musical or Revue), 2009 Black Theater Alliance August Wilson Award for Best Writing of a play, 2004 Black Theatre Alliance Lorraine Hansberry Award for Best New Play, 2003 New Professional Theatre Playwriting Award, New York City, NY, Jefferson Award Nomination for Best New Play, 2001 and 1999, 2001 recipient of the National Project Award sponsored by Pierians, Inc. Pittsburgh Chapter, 2002 Chicago's African-American Alliance Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play, 2001 Chicago's Black Theatre Alliance's Paul Robeson Award for Best Lead Actor in Play, 2000 participant at the Sundance Theatre Laboratory, 1999 finalist for the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship at Arena Stage of Washington, D.C., 1999 Theodore Ward Playwright Award, 1999 Pittsburgh Playwright Award. Television and film credits include Friends and Lovers, Barbershop 2, Prison Break, Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls, “House of Payne” and “One Life to Live.” Current projects include a musical adaptation of E. Lynn Harris’ novel Invisible Life with music by Ashford and Simpson. Mr. Johnson is a proud member of Actors’ Equity.
PATRESE D. MCCLAIN (Risa) is absolutely honored to be making her first appearance on the stage of the prestigious Geva Theatre Center! She is originally from Chicago and has worked with many theatre companies there, including: the Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, and Collaboraction Theatre. Regionally, Ms. McClain recently appeared in Romeo and Juliet as Lady Capulet at the Black Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. She received her B.F.A. from Howard University and then went on to receive her M.F.A. from Pennsylvania State University. In addition to her onstage work, Ms. McClain is the Executive ARTist of Pure ART, a non-profit organization based in Chicago that offers Arts Education Outreach to the inner city youth and produces events to showcase local artists. She would like to thank Ron OJ, Mark Cuddy and Geva Theatre Center for this wonderful opportunity. She thanks the Creator - he who gives the creativity, along with her mother, her family and her friends for their continued support.
DAVID SHAKES (Hambone) returns to the Geva Theatre Center Mainstage where he last performed in the theatre’s 1986 groundbreaking production of Fences, and Slow Drag in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Mr. Shakes was one of the founding members of the Spirit House Movers and Players, a prominent theatre company that presented plays and performed poetry throughout the country. He has worked and studied with many dramatists and authors including Amiri Baraka, Woodie King, Jr, and Yusef Iman. A longtime resident of Rochester, Mr. Shakes has appeared as with Blackfriars, RAPA and JCC CenterStage, Downstairs Cabaret Theatre, Shipping Dock and Rochester Community Players as actor, guest artist, director and producer. He founded the Village Theatre where he acted, directed and produced plays. He is a much sought after historic interpreter and a social worker for the Rochester City School District. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and earned his B.S. in Communications at Empire State College and a M.S.W. at Syracuse University.
A.C. SMITH (Memphis Lee) makes his Geva Theatre Center debut in this production Two Trains Running. He is most grateful and thankful for a chance to work with this company. He is a native of Chicago and has acted in several major theatres there such as his home theatre, Victory Gardens where he has been an active member for over twenty years. Other Chicago credits include work at the Court Theatre where he won the Jeff Award for Lead Actor in a Drama, for his portrayal of Troy Maxon in Fences. He has also worked at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, Illinois Theatre Center, The Second City, Timeline Theatre and the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, to name a few. When not in Chicago, Mr. Smith can be seen performing at his second home, St. Louis Black Repertory Company where he has worked for more than fifteen years. During that time span, he has won eight Woodie King Jr. Awards. Mr. Smith performed in the national tour of the Broadway production of The Piano Lesson, directed by Lloyd Richards. He also played the title role in the New Federal Theatre’s Off-Broadway production of Jelly Belly (Audelco Award nomination). Mr. Smith has appeared in many independent films and a handful of feature films as well as radio, voice-overs, television and commercials and has done print work for Ebony and Jet magazines. He has a B.F.A. in theatre from Columbia College, Chicago. May God bless…
ALFRED H. WILSON (Holloway) is excited to be making his debut at Geva Theatre Center. Recent regional stage credits include Sam in Master Harold And The Boys, Holloway in Two Trains Running at the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh, Toledo in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Wining Boy in The Piano Lesson at the Court Theatre, Solly Two Kings in August Wilson’s Gem Of The Ocean at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Old Joe in Radio Golf at The Pittsburgh Public Theatre and the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. Mr. Wilson frequently appears at the Goodman and Victory Gardens Theatres in his hometown of Chicago. Other Chicago credits include Charlie in Bourbon At The Border for Eclipse Theatre, Becker in Jitney for the Pegasus Players (Jeff nomination for Best Actor), Charles in Panther Burn at MMPAACT, Memphis Lee in Two Trains Running for the Pegasus Players (Jeff Citation as best actor). Mr. Wilson is a co-founder of Onyx Theatre Ensemble.
AUGUST WILSON (April 27, 1945-October 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of African-Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century. His plays have been produced at regional theaters across the country and all over the world, as well as on Broadway. In 2003, Mr. Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Mr. Wilson’s works garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987); and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as eight New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Jitney, and Radio Golf. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. Mr. Wilson’s early works included the one-act plays The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X, The Homecoming and the musical satire Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson received many fellowships and awards, including Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwriting, the Whiting Writers Award, 2003 Heinz Award, was awarded a 1999 National Humanities Medal by the President of the United States, and received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theater located at 245 West 52nd Street - The August Wilson Theatre. Additionally, Mr. Wilson was posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lived in Seattle, Washington at the time of his death. He is immediately survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero.
RON OJ PARSON (Director) hails from Buffalo, New York (a graduate of Bennett High School) and alumnus of the Ujima Theatre Company of Buffalo. He is a graduate of the professional theatre program of the University of Michigan, and the cofounder and former artistic director of the Onyx Theatre Ensemble of Chicago, and currently a resident artist at Court Theatre in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He has worked with such Chicago theatres as Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Northlight Theatre, Black Ensemble Theatre, eta Creative Arts Foundation, Chicago Theatre Company, Eclipse Theatre Company, Congo Square Theatre Company, City Lit Theater Company, Urban Theater Company, Writers theatre, and a variety of arts in education programs. Regionally, Mr. Parson has directed at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Portland Stage Company, Virginia Stage Company, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Madison Repertory Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, New York’s Signature Theatre Company, Centerstage and he directed the world premiere of Palmer Park at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. Most recently he directed Court Theatre’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, and The Old Settler at Writers Theatre. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, and SDC the union of stage directors.
SHAUN MOTLEY (Scenic Designer) is thrilled to return to Geva Theatre Center where he made his debut with last season’s production of Fences. He has worked in theatre, TV and film for the last ten years. Recent credits include Home and Zooman and the Sign at the New York’s Signature Theatre; Conversations with my Father at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Los Angeles; Girls Night: The Musical at the Cleveland Playhouse; two productions of the new play Cuttin’ Up at Alliance Theater in Atlanta and at Arena Stage in Washington D.C.; Lady Day also at Arena Stage; Chuck Mee’s Full Circle and a new play History of Tears both at the Abe Burrows Theater in New York; and The Roof at the Meisner Theatre in New York. Mr. Motley designed the sets for the Contemporary American Theater Festival in West Virginia for the 2006 season. Some of Mr. Motley’s upcoming productions will be Leading Ladies at Perseverance Theater in Juneau, Alaska and Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Morgan-Wixson Theater in Los Angeles. His film credits as an Art Director include Mind the Gap, an Eric Schaffer film; The Cry, a Redbone Production; and Nicky’s Game, a Holland Production. TV/film credits as the second Art Director include “The Sopranos” (HBO) and “The Book of Daniel” (NBC), “The Bronx is Burning” (ESPN), “Pride and Glory” (New Line Productions). Mr. Motley is currently the Assistant Art Director for “Lincoln Heights” on ABC Family.
MYRNA COLLEY LEE (Costume Designer) makes her Geva Theatre Center debut with Two Trains Running. Ms. Colley-Lee’s most recent work as a costume designer includes Radio Golf at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, the world premiere of The Ballad of Emmett Till at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, Gee’s Bend for The Cleveland Playhouse, Becoming Adele for Gotham Stage Company, and Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Relativity at the St. Louis Black Rep. In addition to stage design, she has designed interiors for several homes, a yacht, and a commercial interior in Santa Monica, CA. Outside of design work, Ms. Colley-Lee recently completed service on the Governor’s Commission to Establish a National Civil Rights Museum in Mississippi, and is currently in her second term as a Commissioner for the Mississippi Arts Commission. She serves on the boards of the Charleston Arts Revitalization Effort, the Mississippi State University Department of Art, and the Mississippi Festival Foundation. She also is on the Acquisitions Committee of the Mississippi Museum of Art, and the Advisory Board of the Ogden Museum of Art. In 2006, she founded the SonEdna Foundation, Inc., an organization that supports and promotes the literary arts in the Mississippi Delta region. Ms. Colley-Lee is the recipient of numerous awards, including Doctor of Creative Arts, honoris causa, from Mississippi State University; Honored Artist from the National Museum of Women in the Arts; The Agatha Award from the Rowell Foster Children’s Positive Plan; Outstanding Costume Design from the National Black Theatre Festival; the Exemplary Arts Service Award from the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education; the Wynona Lee Fletcher Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Designer from the Black Theatre Network; and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Lifetime Achievement Award. She received her M.F.A. in Scenic and Costume Design from Temple University, studied scene painting and properties at Brooklyn College and completed the B.F.A. at the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
KATHY PERKINS (Lighting Designer) is thrilled to be making her debut at Geva Theatre Center. She has designed throughout the country, as well as in Europe and South Africa. In the New York area her work has been seen off-Broadway with such theatres as The New Federal Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club and in such venues as Carnegie Hall and Brooklyn Academy of Music. For two seasons she was resident designer for the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Regionally, Kathy has designed for such theatres as American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), Goodman, Alliance, Mark Taper Forum, St. Louis Black Repertory, Indiana Repertory, A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle Repertory, Berkeley Repertory, Congo Square, Penumbra, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, ETA Chicago, and Court Theatre. She has designed premieres for such playwrights as Pearl Cleage (Song for Coretta), Cheryl West (Jar the Floor), Kia Corthron (Seeking the Genesis), South African playwright Fatima Dike (The Middle Passage) and Elyzabeth Wilder’s Gees Bend. Ms. Perkins is the editor/coeditor of five anthologies focusing on African/African Diaspora women: Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology of Plays Before 1950; Contemporary Plays by Women of Color; Strange Fruit: Plays on Lynching by American Women; Black South African Women: An Anthology of Plays and African Women Playwrights. She is a Professor of Theatre at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ms. Perkins is a native of Mobile, Alabama.
IAN HILDRETH (Sound Designer) is graduate of SUNY Brockport, and is in his third season as Audio Engineer at Geva Theatre Center. Past designs include last season’s Fences and 3 Mo’ Divas and Underneath the Lintel earlier this season.
MARGE BETLEY (Dramaturg) has been Geva’s Literary Manager/Resident Dramaturg since January 2000, and served as Co-Acting Artistic Director for the 2003/04 season. During her tenure, Geva has offered commissions to nine writers, supported the development of more than 150 plays and musicals, and produced more than a dozen world premieres, many of which have gone on to subsequent productions around the country. During the 2007/08 season, she co-authored the adaptation of Geva’s premiere production of Pride and Prejudice, as well as collaborating on the launch of The Hornets’ Nest series of play readings and community dialogues. Previously Ms. Betley was the co-founder/co-artistic director of Living Room Opera and managing director of Nautilus Music-Theater, both in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Her varied career in new theatrical work has included stints with the Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia, Houston Grand Opera, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has been a contributing writer to Opera News and American Theatre and has served on funding panels for the NEA and the Rockefeller Foundation. Freelance dramaturgy credits include Denver Center Theatre Company, the Mark Taper Forum, the Bonderman Festival, Stage 13 Productions in NYC, the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis and the O’Neill Playwrights and Music Theatre Conferences. Ms. Betley is a former Fulbright scholar in dramaturgy.
JANINE WOCHNA (Stage Manager) is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, is delighted to return to Geva Theatre Center after serving as stage manager for Almost, Maine; The Clean House; Evie’s Waltz; ROOMS: a rock romance; The Piano Lesson; Bad Dates; Doubt and The Underpants, and assistant stage manager for Souvenir; Fences; Sweeney Todd; A Christmas Story; Menopause the Musical; Cabaret and A Christmas Carol. Regional theatre credits include The Rainmaker and Rounding Third, Tuesdays with Morrie, Broadway Bound, Sherlock Holmes and the West End Horror, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Middle Ages, My Three Angels, and A Dash of Rosemary (Florida Rep); Tea at Five with Kate Mulgrew, Leading Ladies (Ken Ludwig), Last Night of Ballyhoo, A Kiss for Cinderella, and Two Trains Running to name a few, as well as seven seasons as Production Stage Manager of the Next Stage Festival of New Plays (Cleveland Play House). Other regional credits include Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Indiana Rep), All the King’s Men (Arkansas Rep), Annie (Carousel Dinner Theatre), and Always...Patsy Cline and Forbidden Broadway (Hanna Cabaret). A proud member of Actors’ Equity Association since 1994, Ms. Wochna is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
KIRSTEN BRANNEN (Assistant Stage Manager) celebrates her ninth season with Geva Theatre Center, over which she has stage managed Underneath the Lintel, Souvenir, 3 Mo’ Divas; Fences; Sweeney Todd; A Christmas Story; Ella; Pride and Prejudice; Cabaret; Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure; Urinetown, the Musical; Our Town; Dial M for Murder; Inherit the Wind; Shear Madness; The Road Home: Re-Membering America; A Chorus Line; That Was Then; Broadway Bound; Camelot; Death of a Salesman; Biloxi Blues; 1776; 36 Views; Cookin’ at the Cookery; Convenience; Flyin’ West; Hibernatus Interruptus: A Festival of New Plays and A Christmas Carol 2001-2006. She was a stage manager for nine years at PCPA Theaterfest in Santa Maria, California. At PCPA, she served as the Production Stage Manager and taught the stage management curriculum. She was a stage manager for such productions as My Fair Lady, 42nd Street, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Gypsy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Who’s Tommy and the World Premiere of The Daly News. Originally from Victor, she is very happy to again make her home in the Rochester area. Ms. Brannen is a graduate of Ithaca College and a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.
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