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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.
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 African-American community in the 20th century.
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.
This most famous work is the seminal Fences (1985) which had a film adaption in 2016 featuring Viola Davis and Denzel Washington. The play premiered on Broadway and won a Pulitzer and multiple Tony awards. Safe to say it is an absolute cracker of a play and well worth a read or a watch! Fascinatingly, a number of his plays are referred to as ...
Sep 28, 2024 · August Wilson (born April 27, 1945, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died October 2, 2005, Seattle, Washington) was a playwright who penned an acclaimed cycle of plays, each set in a different decade of the 20th century, about Black American life. He won Pulitzer Prizes for two of them: Fences and The Piano Lesson.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Aug 16, 2023 · August Wilson, a two-time Pulitzer winner who ranks among America’s greatest playwrights, died in October 2005 at the age of 60. Though by the time of his death he had completed his American Century Cycle (a.k.a. the Century Cycle or the Pittsburgh Cycle), with one play for each decade of the 20th century, there lingered a sense that not only ...
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Dec 11, 2020 · Each of the 10 plays in the series offers a glimpse into the Black experience during a different decade of the 20th century. Following everyday folks, from formerly enslaved people to trash collectors, jitney drivers to Ivy League-educated developers, the plays run the gamut from bawdy comedies to Greek-inspired tragedies.
