"He did 10 plays," said the actor of the legendary playwright. "I'm directing and producing and acting in one [Fences] and I've been given the opportunity by the August Wilson estate. I'm executive producing the other nine. I made a deal with HBO."
Friday, September 18, 2015
Denzel Washington to Produce All 10 August Wilson Plays For HBO
"He did 10 plays," said the actor of the legendary playwright. "I'm directing and producing and acting in one [Fences] and I've been given the opportunity by the August Wilson estate. I'm executive producing the other nine. I made a deal with HBO."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
If there is any reason to get HBO this would be a great one, being able to produce August Wilson’s plays to get that era of theatre out there to the public is fantastic. There are several people if given the opportunity to do so would probably turn it down. With what Denzel Washington has been able to produce over the years through his acting and directing, it should come as no surprise that what is in store for us is nothing short of amazing. The downside is the longevity as to which they will come out. Having a play come out every year might be a little toying with those of us who are excited for something like this to happen. I keep thinking of them as plays and not as a movie style base, which I can only assume is how it will turn out being once the film shoot is finished.
I am ecstatic to see an a playwright like August Wilson making his silver-screen debut, albeit posthumously. Earlier in my life, I was not a fan of adapting theater for the screen because it just isn't the same. Since being in school, I've realized that theater-for-television is its own beast. It's not trying to recreate the stage, but instead present the text in a different medium, which is pretty incredible when its done right. If anyone can pull these off, it is Denzel Washington and his vast successes both in Hollywood and on Broadway. One thing that strikes me though, is that he is producing 10 plays. First off, that's a whole lot of plays adapted for the small screen. This is a huge job he's undertaking, and one that is going to span a large part of his life. Washington is committing 1/8th of his life to one playwright and that is an ultimate achievement for a performing artist. I look forward to seeing all of his work.
I’m so excited for this, I think that if anyone will take care of August Wilson’s plays it will be Denzel Washington. So rare do you get an organization to produce a complete work of a playwright, especially one as large and complex as the Pittsburgh Cycle. This should hit close to home for Carnegie Mellon students as well, for obvious reasons, but there are so many reasons to look out for this. When an organization produces a volume of works, it’s always interesting to see how they interpret each work with respects to each other. With August Wilson’s works, I’m sure it would be impossible not to at least consider doing so. This gives the audience an even closer look in to the chronology of the plays, related themes and imagery, and all the similarities, but also all the differences between the plays, which are equally as important. I’d love to stay updated on this story.
After recently learning about August Wilson from Susan Tsu's Scavenger Hunt project (all credit to Chris Calder), I've bookmarked his name in my head as something to look into in my limited free time. Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw this article. A well-respected and talented performer, coupling with a revolutionary playwright to bring the voices of Pittsburgh's past to a national stage, what could be better? Imagine, too, my further surprise and delight to hear about his collaboration with Viola Davis. I have no doubt that Washington, both as a performer and a producer, will do justice by Wilson. I look forward to hearing more about this project, and possibly catching a performance or two from HBO.
I am very happy to see Denzel Washington put on all of August Wilson works on HBO a platform a lot of people can be exposed to. I am firm believer that August Wilson should be up in the great ranks of playwrights as Shakespeare because he is able to give a very accurate portrayal of the black experience of many different time period where as most of the general public has only ever been exposed to one time period in the lifetime. So the idea of what the black experience in most people’s eyes is defiantly a skewed view. And in many way his plays still all have a core story that is relatable to all generations regardless of race which is something a lot of plays being produced in our modern time no longer have. So often the stories being told seem very flat and standard cookie cutter with no real thought provoking nature.
Post a Comment