A Wail and a Whelp of Joy.

This article focuses on the Huntington Theatre’s 2022–23 production of August Wilson’s play *Joe Turner’s Come and Gone*, which explores the enduring impact of slavery and displacement on African American identity in early 20th-century Pittsburgh. Central to the play is Herald Loomis, a man marked by his seven-year captivity under Joe Turner, a figure who symbolizes historical trauma, and his struggle to reclaim his sense of self and connection to his past. The play, part of Wilson’s Century Cycle depicting Black life across decades, emphasizes themes of memory, spiritual searching, and the tension between isolation and community within a boardinghouse setting. Through characters like the conjure man Bynum and the boardinghouse residents, the narrative examines the complexities of healing from historical wounds while highlighting the necessity of both self-sufficiency and collective remembrance.