Post Gazette: "As he refined his powerful voice, first as a poet and later as a playwright, August Wilson heard lively rhythms in African-Americans' voices in Hill District jitney stations, barbershops and diners. His carefully attuned ear absorbed stories of struggle and dreams deferred, rich fodder for the cycle of 10 bittersweet plays he produced before his death in 2005. Now, with a new book that fits in your pocket, you can take a five-mile walking tour of the places that fueled the author's imagination even after he moved away in 1978.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Following August Wilson: Book, tour delineate important Hill District sites
Post Gazette: "As he refined his powerful voice, first as a poet and later as a playwright, August Wilson heard lively rhythms in African-Americans' voices in Hill District jitney stations, barbershops and diners. His carefully attuned ear absorbed stories of struggle and dreams deferred, rich fodder for the cycle of 10 bittersweet plays he produced before his death in 2005. Now, with a new book that fits in your pocket, you can take a five-mile walking tour of the places that fueled the author's imagination even after he moved away in 1978.
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2 comments:
So excited to see this!
So much can be understood about history Pittsburgh through the lens of the history of the Hill District and so much can be learned about American attitudes towards race and culture by looking at Pittsburgh's attitude towards the Hill District: Jaz legends like Billy Eckstine playing to white audiences Downtown and then playing after-hours clubs in the Hill, riots in the Hill after assasination of MLK Jr, Pittsburgh bulldozing the center of the Hill to make the Igloo, Console Energy Center employing Hill Distrit residents, though not women, etc. You can interweave an interesting tapestry. And if you want to keep weaving combined with plays of August Wilson and 20th century realism, the Hill District is tremendously important to the theatre. Remember reading an article a few years ago how Wilson's nephew had to kick and fight to get Pittsburgh to deem Wilson's childhood home a Historic Site.
The Hill where Wilson set his plays is very different than the Hill today. And with the possibility of Console Energy Center providing a much needed rejuvenation to the Hill (though with the potential risks of gentrification) the Hill may change even more. Good to see people in Pittsburgh are working to preserve August Wilson's Hill District in print before it is gone forever.
This is a really interesting concept. I think it is more interesting to me as a history lover than a theatre lover, but all the same, I really want to take this tour. I think this is a great creation; anyone working on an August Wilson play in the future should go on a "field trip" with this book. There is something powerful about making the connection between the fictional (Wilson's plays) and the physical (the real places in those plays). I hope that it will also give a new take on the Hill District, as an important, historical place where art can bloom.
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