Chronologically the first work in Wilson's decade-by-decade cycle dramatizing the African American experience during the 20th century, the play is set in 1904 in Pittsburgh's Hill district where Citizen Barlow appears at the home of a healer, Aunt Ester, in need of guidance on the eve of her 287th birthday.

The cast features Keith Arthur Bolden, Carlease Burke, Tene Carter Miller, Rodney Gardiner, Juanita Jennings, Stephen Marshall, Jeris Lee Poindexter, and Adolphus Ward.