Contemporary Playwrights: August Wilson

Overview

August Wilson (1945-2005) was one of America's most important playwrights, whose works, like those of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, represent an important cultural facet of the American experience. In this interactive, which features video segments from an interview recorded in 2001, Wilson discusses his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwriting career.

Suggested Use

“Wilson gives words to trumpeters and trash men, cabbies and conjurers, boarders and landladies, all joined by a heritage of slavery. Their patois is his poetry, their dreams are his dramas.”

– Samuel Freedman

A significant part of August Wilson’s literary legacy lives on through his group of ten plays known as "The Pittsburgh Cycle". Chronicling the African American experience, each is set in a different decade of the 20th Century, primarily against the backdrop of Pittsburgh's Hill District, a real neighborhood that takes on a mythic significance as the plays progress.

• 1900s - Gem of the Ocean (written in 2003)
• 1910s - Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1984)
• 1920s - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1982) (set in Chicago)
• 1930s - The Piano Lesson (1989)
• 1940s - Seven Guitars (1995)
• 1950s - Fences (1985)
• 1960s - Two Trains Running (1990)
• 1970s - Jitney (1983)
• 1980s - King Hedley II (2001)
• 1990s - Radio Golf (2005)

Using the Media Player

Rather than providing a deep focus on specific plays, this resource focuses broadly on Wilson’s process and thoughts as a playwright, and can be used in any study of his work, as well as in American theater studies, 20th Century culture studies, and American literature classes.

Bringing Wilson into the Classroom

The 10 video clips presented here were excerpted from a 2001 Kennedy Center interview taped with a live, high school student audience. The clips focus on Wilson discussing specific experiences or events from his life and his plays.

In addition to the links in the interactive, the links below may be useful to help guide you in developing resources or bringing Wilson’s work into your classroom.

• August Wilson Resources
  http://www.africanaculture.org/awc/augustwilson.php
  Biographical sketches, play synopses and timeline (in PDF format for easy printing) are just a small selection of resources available from the August Wilson Center for African American Culture.
• Study Guide for Court Theatre's 2006 Production of Fences
  http://www.courttheatre.org/home/plays/0506/fences/studyguide/studyguide.shtml#pitts Focused on Fences, this is a comprehensive study guide for August Wilson’s work, and includes descriptions of The Hill area of Pittsburg, the Negro Baseball League, and suggested questions for pre- and post-performance reflection.
• Decades of Drama: Exploring August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle
  http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20070511friday.html
  Students can use this resource to examine Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle, then speculate on possible plots for an eleventh play, set in the 21st century.
• An August Wilson Home Page
  http://www.augustwilson.net
  Maintained by Mike Downing, Professor of English at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, this site extends Dr. Downing’s thesis work and provides a selection of articles and overviews of Wilson’s work.
• August Wilson WebQuest
  http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/web/2000/caulfield/
  Framed as a student WebQuest construction guide, this page has useful, classroom-appropriate links for study of the life and times of August Wilson.

Further Resources

Wilson’s work deals with strong themes and emotions, and any study in the high school classroom will bring up complex issues relating to life in 20th century America. The following links may provide useful background information for educators preparing to bring Wilson's Pittsburg Cycle into the classroom.

• A History of Jim Crow
  http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/home.htm
  The resources at this site explore segregation in America from 1870s to 1950s. Check out both the American Literature and Teacher Resources at the bottom of the opening page.
• A History of the Negro Leagues
  http://www.blackbaseball.com/
  A Web site “dedicated to the generation of ballplayers who were denied the opportunity to play in the major leagues because of factors other than their ability to play the game of baseball.”
• Creating Hate: The Power of Words
  http://www.highschooljournalism.org/Teachers/Lesson_Plans/Printable.cfm?lessonplanid=138
  Lesson (from the American School in London) on the power of hate words. While Wilson’s vernacular does not function as hate speech, this resource may prove useful to some educators.

Technical Requirements

This multimedia site is bandwidth-intensive, requiring a high-speed Internet connection. Users should be equipped with speakers (or headphones in a lab or classroom setting) and will need the Flash 7 player installed.

The player screen is designed for use with SmartBoards and projectors, as well as on typical computer screens – you should decide which method (group or individual exploration) will work best based on your classroom needs.