Two Trains Running at Round House Theatre

Two Trains Running

Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway Bethesda

It's 1969 and change is in the air. But for Memphis, the owner of a rundown diner in a dying Pittsburgh neighborhood, the civil rights movement may just be an impractical dream. Torn between whether to gamble on an urban‐renewal buyout or sell his building to a predatory businessman, he finds himself caught between idealism and brutal reality. Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's searing, humorous, and potent portrait of African-American life in the '60s tells a complex story of the inner lives of ordinary people at a turning point in American history.

Thru - May 4, 2014

Price: $35 - $50

Show Type: Comedy/Drama

Running Time: 3 hours with 1 intermission

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Two Trains Running Reviews

Average Rating based on 4 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Highly Recommended

"...There's a little more charisma than danger in KenYatta Rogers's turn as the numbers runner Wolf, and Michael Anthony Williams may be a degree too amusing as the wise man Holloway - but only a degree. These are characters, along with Doug Brown's above-it-all West, whom you can sink in with for three hours - and yes, that's the running time for this trip. Slow spots are rare; it's a lively, probing show, chugging toward something that wouldn't matter as much if Wilson's cocky script was cut, or was more rigidly logical, or was more conventionally laced with upfront plot. It's an epic protest poem, a show worth catching whether you're new to the Wilson experience or a seasoned fan ripe for a fresh jolt."

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- Nelson Pressley

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...The characters in Two Trains Running are fully imagined and this production is a-l-i-v-e, full of swagger. The energy pulsates with humor, vigor, and self determination. It's oxygen for the soul. You take a deep breath thankful for the all-around brilliance of the show.I'm just appreciative of the opportunity to witness undoubtedly the best ensemble acting I've seen all season. The audience burst into laughter throughout the play, and at the end of every scene there was applause. (I've never experienced that before.)"

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- Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

Washingtonian - Highly Recommended

"...An acting ensemble working in perfect harmony is crucial to Wilson's plays. The digressions, repetitions, and interruptions must all flow into one another like musical themes and variations. And despite the occasional tripped word or mistimed interjection on opening night, they get it oh so right at Round House."

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- Jane Horwitz

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

In true August Wilson form, each character in Two Trains Running has a distinct style, function and purpose. Set in 1969, the characters frequent a run-down diner, that might actually offer half its menu on a good day. The rest of the time, the characters gather to get news, coffee, socialize and peer out the window to catch the latest goings-on across the street at the really happening spot—a funeral home.

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- Debbie Jackson

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Two Trains Running at Round House Theatre