Pittsburgh Playwrights to produce 3-play tribute to August Wilson

This summer, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company will be pulling out all the stops to celebrate the late legendary Pittsburgh-born playwright August Wilson.

With their August Wilson’s American Century Cycle Experience, Pittsburgh Playwrights will produce three of the works from Wilson’s “Century Cycle” — “Fences,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Two Trains Running.”

Wilson, a Hill District native, is seen as a modern tian of American theater, especially for his 10-play “Century Cycle.” Each of the 10 play takes place in a different decade of the 20th century — most of them in Pittsburgh — and explore timely aspects of the Black American experience.

“Fences,” which was made into a 2016 film starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, will run from Aug. 8-Sept. 14 outdoors at the August Wilson House in the Hill District. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play takes place in the Hill during the 1950s and explores race relations of the time through main character Troy Maxson (played by James Earl Jones in the original Broadway production). Stephen McKinley Henderson — who played the role of Bono in the play’s 2010 Broadway revival and in the film — is set to direct.

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” will run from August 15-24 at the Madison Arts Center’s cabaret space, which Pittsburgh Playwrights founder and producing artistic director Mark Clayton Southers said is coming together currently. “It’s going to be immaculate. We’ve already started, we’ve got the stage set up already … we’re actually picking up the piano tomorrow.”

“Ma Rainey” was also recently adapted to the screen in a 2020 film starring Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis and Colman Domingo. The play takes place in 1927 in a Chicago recording studio and follows one afternoon of recording with musician Ma Rainey, her band and record executives. This production will be directed by Ashley Southers, Mark Clayton Southers’ daughter. “She’s really tuned in,” he said.

“Two Trains Running” was already slated for this summer at Playwrights, and with this production, the company will complete their second full run-through of Wilson’s Century Cycle. It will run from Aug. 9-30 at the Madison Arts Center in the Hill District. This 1960s-set play also takes place in the Hill District, finding main character Memphis Lee fighting for a fair price for the demolition of his restaurant. “Two Trains Running” examines the many facets of love, justice and activism during the revolutionary ’60s. This production will be directed by Mark Clayton Southers.

Southers said that with this year’s inaugural American Century Cycle Experience, he’s kicking off what he plans to be a biennial tradition.

“Now that we have the August Wilson archives here in the city, a lot of scholars are coming to town. Pittsburgh is basically the basin for August Wilson, you’ve got the August Wilson Center, the August Wilson House, the archives, and you’ve got our company, Pittsburgh Playwrights. … We’ll be one of the first, if not the first, to complete the cycle twice.”

He also noted that Pittsburgh is fortunate to have a deep pool of talented actors to do justice to Wilson’s immortal words.

Southers has a personal connection with Wilson who, before his death in 2005, urged Southers to move into writing for the stage — an art form in which Southers has excelled, penning plays including “The Coffin Maker” and “Art of Wise,” among others.

“Just watching him and watching his work and being involved in theater in the level that I was involved, it made me want to tell stories and express myself,” Southers said.

Wilson was even present at Playwrights’ first ever production in 2003: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

“We have a really huge August Wilson following, which made me say, hey, we can make this work,” Southers said of their ambitious three-play run this August.

With so many acclaimed plays in Wilson’s Century Cycle to choose from, Southers said that selecting the three for this year came down to what’s been done most recently in the city — but a little personal preference went into the calculation, too. “I picked ‘Ma Rainey’ out because it’s one of my favorite plays. ‘Ma Rainey’ and ‘Jitney’ and ‘The Piano Lesson’ are my three favorite August Wilson plays.”

Not that there isn’t a place in his heart for all of them. “When you’re working on them, you love it. You love the language and the poetry and the musicality of Wilson’s words, it brings up a lot of memories,” he said.

Honoring Wilson’s legacy is the most important thing in executing the August Wilson American Century Cycle Experience, as far as Southers is concerned. “We do his work right here in the city. Our actors, our technicians, our designers. It’s a privilege to be able to do his work.”

Tickets and performance dates for the three plays in the August Wilson American Century Cycle Experience can be found at pghplaywrights.org.