Holloway enters Memphis’s restaurant, having seen a long line of people waiting to see Prophet Samuel’s body at the funeral home before his burial. Memphis, Holloway, and Wolf discuss how rich West, the owner of the funeral home, is. He owns many of the buildings in town. Hambone enters; he can only say the phrase, “He gonna give me my ham.”
A young man named Sterling enters looking for a job after recently being released from prison. Holloway tells him to go see Aunt Ester, an unseen/offstage character. Aunt Ester is a spiritual leader, soul cleanser, clairvoyant, and personification of legacy, memory and Black history in America. Holloway advises Sterling that she will “give you more than money. She make you right with yourself.” Sterling exits to see Aunt Ester to help him turn his luck around.
Memphis and Wolf watch Hambone confront Lutz, the owner of the grocery store, from across the street about his owing him a ham. He’s gone there every morning for the past nine years. Holloway defends the logic and honor around Hambone’s efforts. Holloway talks about the futility of the workforce for Black people in America, and the impact slavery had on their prospects and spirit.
The city plans to demolish the block where Memphis’s restaurant is located, and he must decide if he’s going to accept the government’s offer to buy his building or sell it to a private developer. West enters; he and Memphis argue about buying Memphis’s building.
West offers Memphis fifteen thousand dollars, but Memphis insists on twenty-five thousand dollars. Hambone enters, Risa (a waitress at Memphis’s restaurant) pours him coffee, but Memphis grabs it out of his hand and kicks him out.
Sterling invites Risa to a Malcolm X rally, but she declines. Sterling reveals to her that he went to jail for robbing a bank. He still can’t find a job, and says that if he doesn’t find one soon, he will get a gun instead. Sterling reveals that he’s been working with Hambone to say a different phrase: “Black is Beautiful.” Memphis returns from trying to sell his building downtown, angry that he’s only received an offer of fifteen thousand dollars. He insists the buyers will meet his price and won’t back down.
Sterling enters with flowers for Risa and a gas can. He stole the flowers from the funeral home where Prophet Samuel’s body rests, and he stole the gas can from the drugstore. West enters and says that someone has tried to break into his funeral home. They discuss Aunt Ester. West says he went to see Aunt Ester twenty two years ago to see if his wife was dead. She asked him to throw twenty dollars in the river, but he refused. Holloway went to her because he wanted his grandfather dead. He threw twenty dollars in the river for several weeks straight, and then his grandfather died of natural causes. Sterling insists one day he’ll have enough money to pay Aunt Ester, and to marry Risa.
Hambone has gone missing—for the first time in nine and a half years, he did not ask Lutz for his ham. The men speak of Prophet Samuel’s well-attended funeral and his gambling. We find out that Sterling has bought a gun. Memphis tells Risa he’s going back to the courthouse with his lawyer.
Later that same day, we learn Hambone has died peacefully in his sleep. Wolf enters and Sterling reveals he owes a lot of money to a lot of people, but he just hit one of his numbers while gambling and expects twelve hundred dollars from Wolf. Wolf explains they cut the numbers in half and he’ll only get six hundred dollars. Wolf gives it to him, and Sterling exits angrily.
Sterling returns, having been to Aunt Ester’s. She wrote something down for him, put it in an envelope, and told him to put it in his shoe and walk around with it for three days. Sterling confesses his affection for Risa. She is wary of him since he is jobless and likely headed back to the penitentiary. Regardless, Risa puts a song on the jukebox, they dance, and they kiss.
The day of Hambone’s funeral, Memphis enters the restaurant drunk. He finally did what Aunt Ester said and put twenty dollars in the river, then he went to the courthouse and they offered him thirty five thousand dollars for his building. He finds out Hambone is dead, and uses his money to get Hambone some nice flowers. Sterling enters after having robbed Lutz’s store. He gives West a ham to put in Hambone’s casket.
This play occurs after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in America. It takes place in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, which suffered a sharp economic decline in the 1960s after two decades of prosperity.
Place in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle
Two Trains Running is the seventh play chronologically in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle, taking place in the 1960s. It was written in 1990 and produced at Court Theatre in 2022.
A Note for Teachers
This play features strong language, including racial slurs, and references to self-harm. Please prepare students accordingly.
