Pittsburgh City Paper: First performed in 1987, and set in 1936, in the Hill District, August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson is the fourth installment in the Pittsburgh native’s epic, 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle. It’s also the first play staged at the newly retooled August Wilson Center, so the warmth and enthusiasm with which the audience greeted this new Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Co. production is unsurprising; the director, Playwrights artistic director Mark Clayton Southers, is himself a protégé of Wilson.
2 comments:
Of course I am running a show and I missed this!!! It is one of the shows I always wanted to see for a long time and can never make it. I love August Wilson works and I am glad that they brought in Seven Guitars last year. Can someone proposed The Piano Lesson for next year season? I will be graduated by then but I still want it to be perform here. I think August Wilson Center needs to try every single possibilities to generate cash flow to the foundation and keep it running which I also believe they must have tried other ways in the past. I wonder if they ever runs any like… donor events or fundraising parties or something like that to gain more patrons to the center to help support the organization. I think if they invest on development department I think it may help them to some certain level.
After reading and analyzing this show last year, I would love to see it. While the plot and themes are easy to understand from reading the text aloud, the incorporation of music would add an entirely different dimension to the production. Being titled THE PIANO LESSON, the role of song isn't necessarily defined by Wilson and is left up to audience interpretation, yet it certainly conveys strong themes about the African American experience during the mid 20th century and is a tie that binds the Charles family who is conflicted between the present and past. With a show that has roots in Pittsburgh (it was based in the city!), it's sad to hear that the foundation is not less than thriving, as Wilson is such an incredible playwright and the city of Pittsburgh is so integral to his works that it's a shame there hasn't been enough push to make this accessible to the majority of the public.
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