August Wilson ( 1945-2005 ) is a U.S. playwright best known for The Pittsburgh Cycle—10 plays that capture the African-American experience in each decade of the 20th century.
Wilson has had a profound effect on this writer and thousands of Black artists. My professional contemporaries were the understudies and the assistant directors and designers on his premieres. Now they are able to take the reins of these productions themselves and make new discoveries.
In 2016, this journalist was lucky enough to be an assistant director on a production of Fences at California Shakespeare Theater with Raelle Myrick-Hodges. Myrick-Hodges was invested in making the play relevant to the Black woman's experience, so the company went into the community, visiting senior centers and shelters and interviewing Black women about their perspectives on family, love and the ability to forgive. Those recordings were used by the sound designer to bring those modern women into the world of 1950's Fences, making their experiences flow seamlessly with Rose's.
Chicago artists came together to share their own experiences with Wilson's work, and why it's still relevant to them today:
—Ron OJ Parson, director of Court Theatre's Radio Golf: "I always want to direct August Wilson. I learn something new every time I direct his plays. Wilson is one of the most profound and prolific Black writers in history. Radio Golf in particular has such resonant moments surrounding gentrification, it's hard not to see how this play isn't relevant."
—James Vincent Meredith, actor who portrays Roosevelt Hicks in Radio Golf: "We're about to have our final dress tomorrow, and I'm scared shitless. The fact that I'm working with August Wilson vets who have done a number of Wilson's plays—and yet still are in the weeds— is almost comforting.
"[I]t lets me know that whether it's your first August Wilson or your 21st, the language, the energy, the pace, the construction of a scene, the specificity, the emotional weight [is all] on a precise edge. [W]ithout the proper attention to detail and enough reps, the tires of the show just won't grip right.
"The language is so precise. Alfred Wilson [Elder Joseph Barlow in Radio Golf] mentions the music—when the language is spoken with the attention and care it demands, and it almost sings. Conversely, you can miss a word or invert a phrase, and instantly say to yourself 'naw, that ain't right.'
"His plays almost feel like a proving ground to an actor of color. You can do many other classical works, but August Wilson will expose you. You can't hide. You have to tell the truth. That should be true of all theatre for an actor, but Wilson's work absolutely demands it."
—Ronald Conner, actor in productions such as Congo Square's Jitney, King Hedley II; Court Theatre's Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson; and Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: "August Wilson influenced me as performer on a cultural level because his characters felt like they were plucked right from my grandmother's kitchen.
"When I read his plays, I immediately understood the vernacular and the rhythm of the language. He remains relevant to American theatre because he provides a voice to the marginalized. As long as there is a working class in America there will be a place for August Wilson."
—Nambi E. Kelley, actor in Goodman's Two Train's Running, TheatreWorks' Seven Guitars, Fountain Theatre's Joe Turner's Come and Gone: "August never went to college. He didn't even graduate high school. But he made his living as a writer, the most important Black writer of our time. In spite of all his accomplishments, accolades, and plays, I am left with what an incredibly humble human being he was.
"What an inspiration he was to me as a young playwright. How kind it was of him to spend 45 minutes hearing about my play and how he tried to help me get clarity on it from a professional perspective; how meeting him and spending a meal with him made me believe that I could make a living doing the very thing that he does."
—Wardell Julius Clark, actor/director, Court Theatre's Gem of the Ocean; actor in Carver Theatre's Fences: "I love language, and August wrote how we talk. Any time you are able to inhabit one of his roles, it's like going home. I find new resonances and deeper understanding in each of the plays the more I read or see or teach them. The work is so rich, and it continually deepens."
—Ike Holter, playwright ( Sender, Prowess, The Wolf at the End of the Block ): "One of the most interesting things about August Wilson's legacy was the way he pushed for people of color to direct his work. It would be easy to just give these plays over to whoever wanted them, but his insistence in building the resumes of Black people is astounding and it's still reverberating.
"It also is helpful when doing new plays:instead of just taking whoever is thrown at a project, you, as the writer, have the power to say 'know what? I need someone who not only can understand these people, but IS one of these people.'
"Yes, I believe that many different types can see things clearly, but it means something more when we are shut out of these jobs, time and time again, to make way for a white person. When I say 'I need someone of color to direct this,' the theater knows there has been an established precedent of that happening."
—Derrick Sanders, director of productions such as Marin Theatre's Wilson's Fences, Signature Theatre's King Hedley II; and Kennedy Center's August Wilson's 20th Century: "August Wilson is one of my primary influences as an artist. He allowed me, very early in my career, to participate in the development and production of two of his Broadway bound shows. I am a more detailed, sensitive, and language driven director, because of his mentorship.
"He revealed to me that every moment of a play is a delicate kaleidoscope of love, pain, joy, expectations, disappointments, tears and terrors meant to lift our audience to a cathartic understanding of themselves and the space they occupy."
—Chuck Smith, director of Goodman's Two Trains Running, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom; dramaturg, Goodman's Gem of the Ocean; curator, Goodman's August Wilson Celebration; and fellow, Penumbra Theatre: "The theater artists who hung out at Dixies following Penumbra rehearsals and performances had a running joke, 'Be careful what you say around August 'cause it'll end up in a play.'"
Radio Golf runs through Sept. 30 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.; visit www.courttheatre.org .
