Historic Community Theatre in Wayland, MA

August Wilson's

The Piano Lesson

By August Wilson

Directed by Michelle M. Aguillon

​

Friday, July 22 8pm

Saturday, July 23 2pm & 8pm

Thursday, July 28 & Friday, July 29 8pm

Saturday, July 30 2pm & 8pm

Thursday, August 4 & Friday, August 5 8pm

Saturday, August 6 2pm & 8pm

Tony and Pulitzer winner August Wilson, one of the top dramatists of the 20th century, wrote The Piano Lesson as part of his 10-play “Century Cycle” (which also includes Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) that tells of the African-American experience through the decades. This Pulitzer-winning play, although modest in its storytelling, displays Wilson’s uncanny ability to capture a snapshot of humanity, in a supernatural-laced story set in 1936 Pittsburgh. Boy Willie, wanting to be his own boss and to own his own land, wants to sell a piano that resides in his sister’s home. This piano has huge family and cultural significance, and his sister Berniece refuses to part with it. Their fight culminates in a stand-off in which the family and the community gather to give witness, as the siblings bear the weight of history and eventually come to honor it.