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AUGUST WILSON - Honored American Playwright (1945-2005)

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Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Pulitzer Prize winner, August Wilson grew up in poverty, living with his parents and his five siblings. After his father died, his mother remarried and they moved to a predominantly white neighbourhood in Pittsburgh. Wilson experienced racism at school to the point of dropping out at sixteen and choosing to educate himself by spending his days in the library.

It is his childhood and his exposure to the blatant racism toward blacks that eventually inspired him to write for the stage.

In 1978, August Wilson moved to St. Paul Minnesota at the suggestion of a friend, where he wrote educational scripts for the Science Museum of Minnesota. He also penned his first play, JITNEY, during this time. JITNEY is set in a Pittsburgh taxi station in the 1970's.

One of his most famous plays, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, is set in a 1920's recording studio. It's main character is a black blues singer and this play follows her verbally abusive behaviour of her fellow musicians. First presented at Yale in 1984, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM was Wilson's first play to make it to the Broadway stage. Reviews of Wilson's play were favorable and the New York Times hailed him as "a major find for the American theatre". The London Times reviewed the Broadway performance of this play, calling Wilson "a promising new playwright."

It was apparent that Wilson's voice and experiences translated well for the stage and he continued writing, hoping to complete a ten play cycle based on the black experience.

In 1985, Wilson wrote FENCES, a play that won him both the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony award. The play's main character was a former athlete, now a garbageman, who forbids his son to take advantage of an athletic scholarship.

1990's THE PIANO LESSON, Wilson's second Pulitzer Prize winning play is set in the 1930's and follows a brother and sister as they fight for ownership of an heirloom piano, each having their own reasons for wanting it.

Broadway saw Wilson's play, TWO TRAINS RUNNING, take the stage. This time, he wrote about a run down diner that was up for sale and the reactions of the customers to the situation.

SEVEN GUITARS, landed on the scene in 1995 and was the story of blues guitarist, Floyd Barton.

Wilson's greatest achievement as a playwright is his ten play cycle of plays set in Pittsburgh and following the African American experience. There is one play for each of the decades of the 1990's, although they were not written in this particular order:

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