August Wilson: The Power of Language, Characters, and Storytelling

August Wilson, one of the best playwrights, wrote a ten-play cycle (Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf) that encapsulates the African-American experience for every decade of the 20th century. In the words of Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Wilson’s plays are about “the frustration and the glory of being black”. Informed by the blues, Africa and black nationalism, Wilson’s plays can be studied like King Lear, Hamlet and others. His work has the same rigor and consciousness of heightened language as Shakespeare. His texts are an ongoing wealth of information with always more to discover. In this presentation, The MFA Acting students of the Freedom Players will be assisting me as we explore his rich language, characters, and stories through discussion and performances of selected scenes. To book the Freedom Players, contact Billicia Hines @ [email protected]