The Piano Lesson

The tragic loss of Pittsburgh’s own master playwright, August Wilson, has triggered a long-overdue renaissance of his epic ten-play cycle. Eminent Theater Historian Harry Elam wrote that “Wilson’s blood on the page and stage, his work and his words, his spirit and special insight have enriched us … [His] works will never stagnate, for even as they speak to the past, they resonate in the present. That is the genius of August Wilson.”

Set in Depression-era Pittsburgh, The Piano Lesson documents the struggle of two siblings over a piano crafted by their enslaved grandfather. As the brothers resist the realities of their existence, they become emblematic of the struggles of African-Americans to negotiate their turbulent history and the ghosts, figurative and literal, that haunt the piano. There can be no doubt that Wilson must be grouped with O’Neill, Williams, and Miller as one of the greatest contributors to American drama.