Historic Community Theatre in Wayland, MA

August Wilson's

The Piano Lesson

By August Wilson
 

Directed by Michelle Aguillon

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July 22 - August 6, 2022

Friday July 22 & Saturday July 23 8:00 pm
Saturdays July 23 - August 6 2:00 pm
Thursdays - Saturdays July 28 - August 6 8:00 pm

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.