Changing times of the 1960s redefine the American Dream in ‘Two Trains Running’

A.C. Smith (from left), Kierra Bunch and Jerod Haåynes are among the cast of “Two Trains Running” at Court Theatre. (Michael Brosilow)

First produced in 1990 and set in 1969, August Wilson’s play “Two Trains Running,” now being revived at the Court Theatre, provided the very first mention of Aunt Ester. She would become the most crucial, over-arching character of Wilson’s masterpiece 10-play cycle depicting the African-American experience in the 20th Century. We just didn’t know it yet.

Here, she’s offstage but essential. The character Holloway (a likable Alfred H. Wilson), an unemployed housepainter-dash-philosopher and regular at a run-down Pittsburgh diner set for demolition by the city, urges recently released ex-con Sterling (Jerod Haynes) and others to, “Go see Aunt Ester. Just tell her you ain’t right with yourself and she’ll straighten you out.”