In his play Johnnie Taylor Is Gone, Gregory S. Carr incorporates a conflict that anthropologists tell us builds the foundation of every human society. Will Strong—that’s his name, and strong he is—owns and runs the Golden Zodiac Lounge in north St. Louis. The Lounge is Strong’s little kingdom, and the music played in it is the music he likes, and only that. He’s in his late fifties, and we are now early in the twenty-first century. Newer bars and lounges in the neighborhood play what is now popular among young people, hip-hop. 

One of those young people, Jiggy, owner of a hip-hop club, comes to the Golden Zodiac Lounge to offer to buy the bar and change it into a hip-hop club, more successful than it is now.. Jiggy’s father was once one of Strong’s oldest and best friends, now distant and impoverished by booze and the racetrack. 

So now we have the classic generational clash.

But playwright Carr doesn’t make much of this conflict. It is resolved, with a little help from Strong’s friends, his employees and his regulars at the bar. And they are an interesting group, enough to make a dramatic entertainment.

Annie, played by Mardra Thomasi, perhaps better known as a singer but an equally fine actor, tends the bar and provides major support for Strong, who is about the same age. Jeremy Thomas played Pace, a partner of Strong’s in the Golden Zodiac and nagged by his wife on the phone. Jaz Tucker’s Bud delivers A-B products to the Lounge and has running disagreements and dart games with Juan Smith’s Bro’, retired with a work injury and now the Lounge’s resident philosopher and poet. LaWanda Jackson played Bette, a pleasant and amusing waitress in the bar. Wanda, played by Arriel Cummings, is also a waitress whose community college tuition Strong paid but who has now angered him by taking up with Jiggy. Don McClendon, a seasoned St. Louis actor, played Churchill, a preacher who has come to the Lounge with the hope of finding again something he has lost. Ieshah Edwards was Judy, a police officer whose precinct includes the Golden Zodiac Lounge. Archie Coleman, another familiar St. Louis actor, played Strong. Sequoia Edwards played Jiggy. 

It was a strong cast, made stronger by director Thomasina Clarke, who also designed the set, fitting it into the church’s chancel. Darrious Varner designed costumes and sound, and Nathan Oliver designed the lighting. Juan Smith was the Master Carpenter, and Ronnie Brake was the Stage Manager. 

In Johnnie Taylor Is Gone, playwright Gregory S. Carr and his cast and crews made pleasing drama with thoughtfully observed everyday life.

—Bob Wilcox