Style
While there are some depictions of unrealistic events, such as Loomis's "possession" and Bynum's stories about his shining man and inner song, style of Joe Turner is based in realism. In a relatively simple definition of realism, David Rush describes it as
"a style that attempts to depict life on stage as it is actually lived by the members of the audience. It shows us so-called everyday events happening to people like us who live in a world like ours and tells its story in a way that makes it appear logical and believable (191).
Joe Turner is exactly that, a linear story line with depictions of everyday life for the residents of the boardinghouse. While modern audiences can’t necessarily relate with all aspects of this culture, it is definitely plausible in the context of American history. Later Rush goes on to qualify realism by "three unities: time, place, and action (192)". Again this play follows this definition of realism in that it is linear plot, remains in the place- the boardinghouse in Pittsburgh- and effectively tells the story of the few people that live in this house.
In a review of the Ethel Barrymore staging of the play, Clive Barnes comments on the language, idiom, and mix of naturalism and symbolism are beautifully staged and the cast is excellent at depicting the realistic play and develop it a heartrending climax.
Read more about this topic: Joe Turner's Come And Gone
Famous quotes containing the word style:
“I shall christen this style the Mandarin, since it is beloved by literary pundits, by those who would make the written word as unlike as possible to the spoken one. It is the style of all those writers whose tendency is to make their language convey more than they mean or more than they feel, it is the style of most artists and all humbugs.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)
“Switzerland is a small, steep country, much more up and down than sideways, and is all stuck over with large brown hotels built on the cuckoo clock style of architecture.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“To me style is just the outside of content, and content the inside of style, like the outside and the inside of the human body—both go together, they can’t be separated.”
—Jean-Luc Godard (b. 1930)