August Wilson's The Piano Lesson

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

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Cast Size

3f, 5m
Duration

More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
Subgenre

Period
Target Audience

Adult

Accolades

Winner! 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Winner! 1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play
Nominee: 1990 Tony Award for Best Play
Nominee: 2013 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
Nominee: 2013 Drama League Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play
Nominee: 2023 Tony Award, Best Revival of a Play

August Wilson is the recipient of the 1986 Whiting Award for Drama.

Details

Summary

It is 1936, and Boy Willie arrives in Pittsburgh from the South in a battered truck loaded with watermelons to sell. He has an opportunity to buy some land down home, but he has to come up with the money right quick. He wants to sell a piano that has great importance to his family, but he shares ownership with his sister Berniece, and the piano sits in her living room. Berniece has already rejected several offers, because the antique piano is covered with beautiful carvings detailing the family’s rise from slavery. Boy Willie argues that the past is past, but Berniece proves to be more formidable than he anticipated.

History

The Piano Lesson premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in November 1987 under the direction of Lloyd Richards.

Cast Attributes

Keywords

Performing Groups

AVERY
WINNING BOY
BOY WILLIE
LYMON
MARETHA
GRACE
BERNIECE
DOAKER

Time Period 1930s
Setting Pittsburgh. 1930's.
Features Period Costumes
Additional Features Play w/ Music
Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
Cautions
- Alcohol
- Strong Language
- Mild Adult Themes

Media

“A lovely tragicomedy... Haunting as well as haunted.” – New York Newsday

“Like other Wilson plays, it seems to sing even when it is talking.” – The New York Times

“Wonderful... A play of magnificent confrontations.” – New York Post

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

Top 15 Plays and Musicals About Siblings
Concord Theatricals
April 8, 2019

Videos

Berta, Berta from "The Piano Lesson" Live in The Greene Space

Photos

Image: 2022 Broadway Production (Julieta Cervantes)

Image: 2022 Broadway Production (Julieta Cervantes)

Image: 2013 Signature Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

Music

Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

Minimum Fee: £69 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
Performance rights for this title are currently withdrawn in the UK. To be informed as soon as it becomes available in the future, please submit a license application.

Scripts

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Ticketing

Authors

August Wilson

August Wilson (April 27, 1945 - October 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experienc ...

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August Wilson's The Piano Lesson