Experience the power of theatre
Welcome to Powerful Long Ladder, where every performance is a journey. Discover captivating stories, brilliant acting, and unforgettable moments. Join us for an evening that transcends the ordinary.
Powerful Long Ladder brings Italy's Sardegna Teatro and La Piccionaia's production of Pulitzer Prize-winner August Wilson's, Jitney to Mobile, Alabama.
The critically acclaimed play directed by Renzo Carbonera, with an all Black-Italian cast, made its U.S. debut in May 2026 at The Black Rep in St. Louis, MO, Powerful Long Ladder in Cleveland, OH and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company/August Wilson House in Pittsburgh, PA..
This production of Jitney is in association with Spring Hill College with special thanks to the Mobile County Commision.
When: October 15-17, 2026
Where: Arlene Mitchell Theater
1495 Rimes Rd.
Mobile, Alabama 36608
There will be projected English supertitles during the Jitney performances.
Run Time: 2 hours 20 minutes. 15 minute Intermission.
SYNOPSIS
The time is 1977, in Pittsburgh. Step into a realm of one of the 20th century's greatest literary figures, playwright and Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson, where dreams dance with gripping realities inside a rundown, illegal gypsy cab (jitney) station in the Historic Hill District.
The story unfolds against the looming threat of urban renewal as the city threatens to board up the jitney station and demolish the neighborhood block. Tension flares and secrets emerge when station owner Becker's estranged son, Booster, returns home from a 20-year prison sentence. His return and the city threat force his group of drivers, Turnbo, Youngblood, Doub and Fielding to confront generational conflicts, shifting family dynamics, and their own economic survival.
The Power In Language!
Miguel Gobbo Diaz Becker/Shealy
Rosanna Sparapano Rena/Philmore
Federico Lima Roque Doub/Fielding
Marcos Piacentini Turnbo/Booster
Tomiwa Samson Segun Aina Youngblood
Renzo Carbonera Director
Fabrizio Arcuri Dramaturgical consultant
The Wilson Project
The Wilson Project is a project realised by La Piccionaia between September 2022 and November 2023, culminating with the production and debut of the first Italian production of a work by August Wilson, Jitney. The play, Jitney by August Wilson, is based on a translation by Angela Soldà, directed by Renzo Carbonera and a cast composed entirely of Afro-Italian actors. To explore the themes of the project, a rich programme of side activities was also realised: in-depth events with artists and experts, film screenings...Click Link For More on The Wilson Project
Angela Soldà Translation
About Powerful Long Ladder Powerful Long Ladder is a 501c3 non-profit theatre company based in Cleveland, Ohio. The company was founded in 2018 by award-winning director, playwright,Terrence Spivey, former artistic director of the historical Karamu House. The company's debut was the 2018 production of James Baldwin's The Amen Corner with Peter Lawson Jones (A Man Called Otto, Chicago Fire) as Luke.
Mission
To educate, inform, inspire, and entertain through classics, thought-provoking, and new works to reflect universal conditions, and enrich the quality of life, unapologetically.
CONTACT: 216- 250-1559 Longladderinfo@gmail.com
What the future will understand about your time and your culture and what you've contributed to it will be influenced by art. That is much more valuable than warships. The rest of the world may be affected by a bomb we drop on them, but their perception of our society will come through the arts.
- Lloyd Richards