Gem of the Ocean

Set in 1904, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean begins on the eve of Aunt Esther’s 287th birthday. When Citizen Barlow comes to her Pittsburg’s Hill District home seeking asylum, she sets him off on a spiritual journey to find a city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Starring Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad as Aunt Esther, Gem of the Ocean is the ninth work in Wilson’s ten-play cycle that has recorded the American Black experience and helped to define generations. Kenny Leon directs.