Two Trains Running

play by Wilson

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July 15, 2026

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Two Trains Running is a play by August Wilson that premiered in 1990. It is part of Wilson's acclaimed ten-play cycle, with each play focusing on African American life in a different decade of the 20th century. This particular play is set in a coffeehouse during the 1960s and explores the ideals of the Black Power movement from the perspective of the late 1980s. Wilson's work is known for its lyrical dialogue and its deep exploration of the Black experience in America, often incorporating themes of music, family, and social change.12

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African American literature
August Wilson
…family in the 1930s; and Two Trains Running (produced 1990), a look at the Black Power ideals of the 1960s from the perspective of the late 1980s. Fences and The Piano Lesson both won the Pulitzer Prize. Wilson’s later plays, Seven Guitars (produced 1995), Jitney! (produced in 1982 and revived…
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…family in the 1930s; and Two Trains Running (produced 1990), a look at the Black Power ideals of the 1960s from the perspective of the late 1980s. Fences and The Piano Lesson both won the Pulitzer Prize. Wilson’s later plays, Seven Guitars (produced 1995), Jitney! (produced in 1982 and revived…
Read More

August Wilson
The action of Two Trains Running, first produced in 1990, takes place in a coffeehouse in the 1960s. Seven Guitars, first produced in 1995 as the seventh play of the cycle, is set among a group of friends who reunite in 1948 following the death of a local…
Read More
The action of Two Trains Running, first produced in 1990, takes place in a coffeehouse in the 1960s. Seven Guitars, first produced in 1995 as the seventh play of the cycle, is set among a group of friends who reunite in 1948 following the death of a local…
Read More