In 1911, the haunted pasts of a group of transient housemates come to the surface at a Black boardinghouse.

Many consider Joe Turner’s Come and Gone Wilson’s most spiritually complex play, and in it, Wilson continues exploring motifs of African mysticism. The Great Migration lies under the surface of the action: recently freed Blacks travel to and from Seth Holly’s Pittsburgh boarding house, where he explains that they come “walking…riding…carrying their Bibles… coming up here from the country carrying Bibles and guitars looking for freedom. They got a rude awakening.” The protagonist, Herald Loomis, is oppressed by the memory of the bounty hunter, Joe Turner, who illegally enslaved him and kept him for seven years.  In order to realize his true self, he must find his “song” with the help of fellow Blacks who act as powerful griots. This song is both metamorphic and mystic, and only by finding it can Herald Loomis be truly freed from his haunting nightmare of his enslaved past.