In part two of our look at August Wilson’s Jitney through the eyes of the actors who play father and son, we talk with Francois Battiste. He plays “Booster,” the son of the man who runs the jitney services where the play takes place. “Becker” (Steven Anthony Jones) is his father. You can read our interview with Jones here.
Becker hasn’t seen his son in years because Booster was serving time in prison. His reappearance, just as the jitney business is facing possible closure, puts tremendous strain on both characters.
Battiste has appeared on Broadway in Bronx Bombers, Magic/Bird, and Prelude to a Kiss. Amongst his off-Broadway credits are The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino and The Winter’s Tale which also starred Ruben Santiago-Hudson (the director of Jitney).
Here are edited excerpts from my conversation with Battiste.
August Wilson said in numerous interviews that when writing he was only concerned about satisfying himself as an artist. If we take him at his word, why do you think his plays have resonated for many decades with a wide range of audiences?
He is writing for every man or woman with goals and aspirations and livelihoods they are trying to protect. Everyone can attach themselves to a man that is trying to hold onto his business or just wants his son to aspire to greatness or do something better than what he did. These are themes that resonate to various groups and nationalities. It does not have to relate only to the African-American community in Pittsburgh in 1977. Through that lens we can see the spectrum of humanistic values on so many levels.
Your first exposure to Wilson’s work was playing “Seth” in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone in high school. What do you remember of that experience?
Damn that’s funny that you bring that up. I was 15-years-old. I don’t really remember all that much except that we were embarking on something quite extraordinary. This was the first time we were doing a black playwright or speaking in a vernacular that seemed not foreign, but seemed like home. It was a sense of spirituality I hadn’t found in reading anything else.
How was your understanding of Wilson’s writing evolved since then?
With experience comes perspective. And that’s just not all on a personal level, but on a cultural level, a political level. Many of the things we talk about in this play are extremely relevant today. That’s one thing about the great writers is that no matter what subject they are talking about, if it will stand the test of time it will reflect things that we never get over or conquer.
The reason we still do Shakespeare is he wrote about things that we still wrestle with: unrequited love, jealousy, the envies, the power structures that we are still as a civilization dealing with. I don’t think Wilson is any different.
How so?
He made kings and queens out of garbage men and waitresses. There’s a certain nobility that comes along with Wilson. The genius of putting people of high integrity and wrapping them in every day man or woman attire. These people of nobility and integrity can have prison records. I think that is not only a testament to his ability to encompass the human condition, but also not to cast dispersions on what we as a society tend to frown upon. I’m grateful to him for that.
Booster seems to maintain his cool in spite of all the grief that is hurled his way by his father, Becker. He gets a lot thrown at him. What are the challenges of maintaining not just a physical cool, but a palpably emotional one as well during these scenes?
I wanted to not have any extracurricular movement or move myself in any way that wouldn’t allow Wilson’s words to ring out. I wanted his economy of movement and words to mean something. I don’t know if I’m doing anything different, but I had to find a way to tell the truth. My duty at the end of the day is only to tell the truth. What I also say is I haven’t committed a violent crime, but I certainly know what rage is. I certainly understand what being trapped is like. I haven’t had this relationship with my father – it’s been fraught and we have had our battles and complications – but those things are what I hold onto and those are things I magnify and morph into his given circumstances.
The next question includes spoilers. If you have not seen Jitney and want to avoid these details, please jump ahead to the next question.
If Becker had loved long enough to see Booster’s last line of the play, how do you think he would respond and would it change their relationship?
You just pull chills on my body. I don’t know how Becker would respond. Anyone how has been in a father/son or mother/daughter relationship knows that when there is bad blood or an argument, to cool down there has to be time to back away from the table. I don’t think Booster and Becker had that. That scene in the first act is 20 years or regurgitation. There’s information Booster received he didn’t know and Becker received he didn’t know. They had bitter nourishment. The phone call, if Becker was in the room, what he would probably, just because of the time period of the play, he’d feel what he felt, but inside he’d think “that’s my boy.”
Wilson said, “All of art is a search for ways of being, of living life more fully.” How does being an actor allow you to live your life more fully?
I know for a fact being a husband and father has made me a better actor and vice-versa. I think being an actor has made me a better father and husband because it teaches us at the very basic ground level empathy. Acting has lead me on a path of understanding who I am and parenting has lead me further because kids are the greatest teachers. I think that is what makes the job more rich. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. Whatever our instincts are naturally, if we find a job that allows us to amplify those attributes we owe it to ourselves. I think it is our duty. I’m grateful that I am an actor. I’m grateful that I can do what has been therapeutic for me.
Photo of Steven Anthony Jones and Francois Battiste in “Jitney” (Photo by Joan Marcus/Courtesy of Center Theatre Group)