August Wilson - Pittsburgh Cycle


A scene from the August Wilson play “Jitney” on Broadway at the Friedman Theater.
Wikipedia - "Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle, also often referred to as his Century Cycle, consists of ten plays—nine of which are set in Pittsburgh's Hill District (the other being set in Chicago), an African-American neighborhood that takes on a mythic literary significance like Thomas Hardy's Wessex, William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, or Irish playwright Brian Friel's Ballybeg. The plays are each set in a different decade and aim to sketch the Black experience in the 20th century and 'raise consciousness through theater' and echo 'the poetry in the everyday language of black America'. He was fascinated by the power of theater as a medium where a community at large could come together to bear witness to events and currents unfolding. ..."
Wikipedia
August Wilson’s Pittsburgh. As soon as you emerge from the Fort Pitt Tunnel in Pittsburgh the city’s impressive skyline appears, with the 44-story Art Deco Gulf Tower and the glassy, neo-Gothic PPG Place accentuating the view. Those two buildings tell the tale of the city. Once defined by its production of iron and steel, along with the ensuing smog, Pittsburgh now has self-driving cars being tested on its streets and rapid gentrification in many of its historically blue-collar neighborhoods. It may seem as if the city is changing at an unparalleled pace but Pittsburgh has been steadily evolving for generations. August Wilson, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, poet, scholar and native son knew this firsthand. Change was something that Wilson brilliantly captured in what is known as the Century Cycle, his collection of 10 plays that reveal the broad African-American experience for each decade of the 20th century. ..."
NY Times
NY Times - August Wilson on Broadway: A History
The Hill District
11 Things You Should Know About August Wilson (Video)

2017 July: Fences (2016), 2017 August: The Ground on Which I Stand, a Speech on Black Theatre and Performance (1992)

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