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- Jitney (1979) Premiere: 1982, Allegheny Repertory Theatre, Pittsburgh; 2000 premiere Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre. Synopsis: Set in an unofficial taxi station threatened with demolition in 1977, Jitney explores the lives and relationships of drivers, highlighting conflicts between generations and different concepts of legacy and identity.
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1982) Ebony Jo-Ann performs Ma Rainey’s monologue exclusively for August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand. Premiere: 1984, Yale Repertory Theatre; subsequent 1984 Broadway opening at the Cort Theatre.
- Fences (1984) Rosalyn Coleman (Rose), Ray Anthony Thomas (Troy) and Horace Rogers (Jim Bono) perform a scene from Fences exclusively for August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand.
- Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1984) Premiere: 1986, Yale Repertory Theatre; 1988, Broadway opening at Ethel Barrymore Theater. Synopsis: Set in a Pittsburgh boardinghouse in 1911, the ensemble play includes characters who were former slaves and examines the residents’ experiences with racism and discrimination.
Jul 18, 2024 · August Wilson’s cycle of ten plays, often referred to as the “Century Cycle,” is a monumental series that chronicles the African-American experience throughout the 20th century. With all but one play set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Wilson’s birthplace, these plays vividly portray the struggles, triumphs, and cultural richness of African-American life.
August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". [1] He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called The Pittsburgh Cycle (or The Century Cycle), which chronicle the experiences and heritage of the ...
Jun 3, 2020 · Wilson wrote 10 plays, collectively known as "The Pittsburgh Cycle" or "Amerian Century Cycle," which explores 100 years of the African American experience. Playwright August Wilson wrote about ...
- Gem of the Ocean, 1900s (US/UK) Though written second-to-last in 2003, Gem of the Ocean kicks off the American Century Cycle in the year 1904. It begins on the eve of Aunt Ester’s 285th birthday.
- Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, 1910s (US/UK) Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is set in a Pittsburgh all-Black boarding house in 1911. The play explores the lives of each denizen of the boarding house, who all have different relationships to the legacy of slavery and to the urban present.
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, 1920s (US/UK) This cornerstone play — adapted in to a 2020 Netflix film starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman — honors the life of Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, the “Mother of Blues.”
- The Piano Lesson, 1930s (US/UK) It is 1936, and Boy Willie arrives in Pittsburgh from the South in a battered truck loaded with watermelons to sell. He has an opportunity to buy some land down home, but he has to come up with the money right quick.
Dec 11, 2020 · The Plot: Finished just months before Wilson's death from liver cancer in 2005, the culmination of his 10-play epic traces the rise of Ivy League–educated real estate developer Harmond Wilks, who is on a mission to become the first Black mayor of Pittsburgh. His latest project involves redeveloping the Hill District, but one problem stands in his way — the house at 1839 Wylie Avenue.
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Apr 21, 2022 · Wilson’s plays are unique in American letters and language. Indeed, they are almost singular in English. There has been no project like his Century Cycle in the history of the English language, aside from Shakespeare’s history plays, which count about the same number and (excluding an outlier or two) cover a period of national experience of roughly comparable length.
