King Hedley II

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August Wilson's ambitious undertaking of writing a drama for each decade of the 20th century about the African-American experience has taken on many of the attributes of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. Like the 19th century composer, Wilson has created a world with its own mythology, populated by unforgettable characters.

The analogy to opera is not so strange, as Wilson's style of writing is filled with rhythm, metaphors, and a sense of grandeur. He has listened to the inflections in the speech patterns of the people he had set on stage, and fashioned them into dialogue that is as close to poetic theater as we're likely to find on the contemporary stage. A street-wise, moody score comp[...]