On Friday November 30th, the Department of Theatre and Dance will make department and university history by presenting the first play featuring an all-African American cast. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Piano Lesson, written by one of America’s most outstanding playwrights, August Wilson, will open for the usual two-weekend run. Produced on Broadway in 1990, the play also won the Drama Desk Award and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award as Best Play. It was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Play, but lost to The Grapes of Wrath. The play is part of August Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle,” also called the “Century Cycle,” wherein Wilson wrote one play for each decade of the 20th century depicting some aspect of African American history and life in that period. The Piano Lesson takes place in 1936 in the Hill section of Pittsburgh, and tells the story of a young man who comes to visit his sister and uncle in Pittsburgh determined to sell the family’s heirloom piano so he can buy the land on which his family had been slaves.
We hope you can join us for this remarkable and historic production. Click here to get further information on the show, tickets, and performance dates. You can enjoy these videos to whet your appetite and get a taste of the action.
