(Terrence Archie, Ray Anthony Thomas, Jimmie J. J. Jeter, and Dion Graham in August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom directed by Timothy Douglas. Octuber 2-24, 2026. Yale Repertory Theatre. Photo © Joan Marcus)

by Tim Leininger

NEW HAVEN, CT — August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom has returned home to the theater that premiered it 42 years ago at Yale Repertory Theatre with a brand new brutally passionate production directed by Timothy Douglas, running through Oct. 24 at the University Theatre at 222 York St.

Set in a studio in the basement of a Chicago recording company in 1927, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a study of a community of Black musicians whose white producers and managers only care about what money can be made from them. The story primarily focuses on the four musicians that back up the titular Ma Rainey (Maiesha McQueen). There are the three aging artists, trombonist Cutler (Terence Archie), pianist Toledo (Dion Graham), and bassist Slow Drag (Ray Anthony Thomas). These seasoned veterans know how the business is operated and don’t challenge the established hierarchy that exists between them, just making sure they get their $25 for a day’s work in cash.

(Terrence Archie, Ray Anthony Thomas, Jimmie J. J. Jeter, and Dion Graham in August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom directed by Timothy Douglas. Octuber 2-24, 2026. Yale Repertory Theatre. Photo © Joan Marcus)

The culture is upset when hot headed, ambitious, young trumpeter Levee Green (Jimmie J.J. Jeter) arrives, who believes he is the next hot artist, with several songs prepared to sell to producer Sturdyvant (Neal Lerner), with the expectation that he’ll be the artist to record the songs. As the quartet await the arrival of Ma Rainey, tempers flare as Levee’s arrogance flips the world where the other men have grown comfortable on its head, challenging their perceived complacency. Though Levee isn’t wrong in his recognition of the need for advancement in Black music in America, his past trauma of racism that he’s been witness to as a child — conveyed in a brutal monologue performed with heart wrenching intensity by Jeter — clouds his judgement toward his colleagues and the white men who pay them. He challenges his bandmates’ beliefs, escalating the conflict to a spiritual level that drives the play to its ultimate tragic conclusion.

Once Ma Rainey shows up, bringing along her female lover Dussie Mae (Brittany Antoinette Davis) and her nephew Sylvester (Mark Yarde), things grow more complicated, and Wilson’s themes start to really take hold. Ma Rainey wants Sylvester to record an introduction to her song, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” but everyone else quickly loses patience for the young man as he suffers from a vicious stutter. Ma Rainey, though, has a power that Levee doesn’t have, financial influence over the white men in charge. They need her to make money, so they can’t ignore her.

(Maiesha McQueen with members of the company of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom directed by Timothy Douglas. October 2-24, 2026, Yale Repertory Theatre. Photo © Joan Marcus)

August Wilson’s play, 42 years later, still recognizes a truth about the relationship between Black culture and white people, celebrity versus the working class, and how racism institutional and systemic, affect both. Black people are ignored, derided, abused, and taken advantage of until one reaches celebrity status, where they are worth the time of day if they bring in money. Everyone else is expendable and easy to replace. This is exemplified in Ma Rainey’s manager, Irvin (Jeff Parker), who must play the middleman between Ma Rainey and Sturdyvant, doing his best to appease them both. Sturdyvant understandably wants the recording session to run efficiently, but he has little respect for the four artists who showed up on time and were ready for work. Meanwhile, Ma Rainey, who shows up late, has reached a place in her career where she can take advantage of her celebrity status, abusing her position toward the powers that be. When we compare where she came from, exemplified by the four members of the band and their relationship with Sturdyvant, it is understandable why she commands everything that happens in the circumference of her career, regardless of how unprofessional it may become. She’s the biggest money maker in the company, and no one is going to say no to her when that’s all she heard her entire career until her success.

Douglas has done a great job with the cast, particularly the four musicians. Though they don’t actually play their instruments during the performances of the songs in the play, their acting is so captivating that, for once in my 31 years of theater, I didn’t really care. The cohesion, chemistry, and robust charisma of the four are so colorful and rich with characterization that I could have watched them on stage for an additional 2 ½ hours. Maiesha McQueen owns the audience from the moment she walks on and electrifies the stage. My one major critique is I wish that Douglas had Lerner give Sturdyvant a bit more backbone. He tends to cower when the dialogue suggests he should be more authoritative.

(Terrence Archie, Ray Anthony Thomas, Mark Yarde, and Maiesha McQueen in August Winson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom directed by Timothy Douglas. October 2-24, 2026, Yale Repertory Theatre. Photo © Joan Marcus)

Richard Lee has created a brilliant set that has an unnaturalistic narrowing in toward the recording studio located up a set of stairs. It creates a forced perspective making the two white men, who are the only two people who spend any significant time up there, look bigger than they are compared to the Black artists they look down, a beautifully symbolic depiction of the racial dynamics of the play. Toni-Leslie James’ costume design details the social strata of the different characters, from Ma Rainey and Dussie Mae’s flashiness, and Sylvester’s schoolboy argyle, to Levee’s suit that screams pay attention to me, and the rest of the band’s working class professional attire.

            Director Timothy Douglas and Yale Rep have done an excellent job bringing August Wilson’s classic, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom back home. It demands attention and we are here to give it.

TICKETS: https://yalerep.org/

PRODUCTION: Written by August Wilson; Directed by Timothy Douglas; Scenic Designer: Richard Lee; Costume Designer: Toni-Leslie James; Sound Designer: Robert Salerno; Hair Designer: Matthew Armentrout; Music Director: John Bronston; Production Dramaturgs: Eric M. Glover, Layla Williams; Technical Director: Cat Slanski; Fight and Intimacy Director: Kelsey Rainwater; Vocal Coach: Julie Foh; Casting Director: Calleri Jensen Davis; Stage Manager: Payton Gunner

CAST (in alphabetical order)

Terence Archie as Cutler

Peter Bisgaier as Policeman

Brittany Antoinette Davis as Dussie Mae

Dion Graham as Toledo

Jimmie J.J. Jeter as Levee Green

Neal Lerner as Sturdyvant

Maiesha McQueen as Ma Rainey

Jeff Parker as Irvin

Ray Anthony Thomas as Slow Drag

Mark Yarde as Sylvester