August Wilson Center for African American Culture Presents 'THE AUNT ESTER CYCLE,' 11/11

The August Wilson Center for African American Culture - opened last month - has announced its first theater event in the new center, "The Aunt Ester Cycle," running November 10 - 22, 2009. The August Wilson Center is located in the heart of Pittsburgh's Cultural District at 980 Liberty Avenue.

"The Aunt Ester Cycle" explores the dramatic impact of this legendary character through productions of "Gem of the Ocean" by The St. Louis Black Repertory; "Two Trains Running" by Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company; "Radio Golf" by Penumbra Theatre Company (St. Paul) and "The Women of the Hill," an original performance created partly in Pittsburgh's historic Hill District by theatrical innovator Ping Chong. The two-week event also includes two symposia: "The Legend of Aunt Ester" and "reConstructing King Hedley II."

"Apart from the National Black Theatre Festival, it is rare for this number of August Wilson plays to be presented in one series," says Shay Wafer, the Center's vice president of programs. "We welcome two of the nation's notable directors in black theater -- Ron Himes, of the St. Louis Black Repertory, and Lou Bellamy, of Penumbra Theatre Company, founders of these companies -- who represent a generation of trailblazers in their field. Joining them is Pittsburgh's own Mark Clayton Southers of the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, the next generation to carry on this legacy."

Theatergoers can sit a spell with Aunt Ester, the "washer of souls," whose character is part of multiple plays in August Wilson's "Century Cycle." He proclaimed the centuries-old matriarch his most significant character. Aunt Ester brings to life a key Wilson idea: The need for African Americans to move forward into the future through embracing their past. In "Two Trains Running," he introduces this offstage character, a former slave, who Wilson called "the embodiment of African wisdom and tradition -- the person who has been alive since 1619 ... and has remained with us." Aunt Ester only actually appears on stage in "Gem of the Ocean."

The performance schedule is as follows:

November 10 - 8 pm; November 11 - 1 pm
St. Louis Black Repertory
GEM OF THE OCEAN (Full Mainstage Production)

This production featuring Ron Himes, Linda Kennedy, Erik Kilpatrick, AC Smith and Yvette Ganier first premiered at The Black Rep in 2007 and has toured to the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC.

The Black Rep is the nation's largest, professional African American theatre company. The company was established in 1976 by Ron Himes as The Phoenix Theatre Troupe. Today, The Black Rep produces professional dramas, comedies and musicals by primarily African American and third world playwrights.

November 11 - 7 pm
PERFORMANCE SYMPOSIUM I: THE LEGEND OF AUNT ESTER
This symposium is a conversation with a panel of nationally known directors and artists who have been involved in creating the legendary Aunt Ester.

Dramaturge Sydne Mahone and Christopher Rawson, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette theater critic, will moderate the discussions with Linda Kennedy, Ron Himes and director Andrea Frye from The Black Rep production of "Gem of the Ocean"; Lou Bellamy, founder and artistic director of Penumbra Theatre Company; and actress Michele Shay, who portrayed Aunt Ester in three productions of "Gem of the Ocean," including the ALLIANCE THEATRE production directed by Kenny Leon and the Seattle Repertory Theatre production directed by Phylicia Rashad. Ms. Shay and Ms. Rashad are members of the August Wilson Center's National Advisory Council.

November 12 - 8 pm; November 13 - 1 pm
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company
TWO TRAINS RUNNING (Full Mainstage Production)
Directed by Mark Clayton Southers, the Pittsburgh Playwrights' production features Broadway veteran Anthony Chisholm and EuGene Lee. Mr. Chisholm is a member of the August Wilson Center's National Advisory Council.

This selection highlights the achievement of an important Pittsburgh-based company. Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company was founded by Mr. Southers in 2003. The company is committed to developing and showcasing the works of local playwrights from accomplished masters like August Wilson and George S. Kaufman to promising new talents, nurturing a racially and culturally diverse community of playwrights, directors, actors and technical specialists.

November 13 - 7 pm
PERFORMANCE SYMPOSIUM II - reCONSTRUCTING KING HEDLEY II
Acclaimed directors Shirley Jo Finney, Paul Carter Harrison and Dominic Taylor will explore new and innovative approaches to select scenes from August Wilson's "King Hedley II," using local and guest actors. Professors Harry J. Elam, Jr. (Stanford University), a member of the August Wilson Center's National Advisory Council, and Sandra Shannon (Howard University) will serve as moderators.

November 14 - 8 pm; November 15 - 3 pm
Penumbra Theatre Company
RADIO GOLF (Full Mainstage Production)
This production, directed by Lou Bellamy, will be brought in directly from the Penumbra mainstage October 2009 premiere. The production features Terry Bellamy, James Craven, Abdul Salaam El Razzac, Austene Van and Kevin D. West.

Penumbra founder Lou Bellamy stated, "At Penumbra, we take pride in representing the African American experience throughout our country's past and present, looking towards the future. Ultimately, what we find is that history lives in the people. We must care for our history and more importantly care for the people who have carried it for us."

November 20 - 8 pm; November 21 - 8 pm; November 22 - 3 pm
Ping Chong & Company
THE WOMEN OF THE HILL (Full Mainstage Production)
Written and directed by Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks in collaboration with six dynamic women from Pittsburgh's historic Hill District, this performance series was constructed by Mr. Chong as a chamber piece of storytelling. It features real people sharing their personal experiences of creating cultural identity out of rich and complex histories. This new work pays tribute to the rich cultural history of the Hill District as told through the voices of a multigenerational group of women that includes Dr. Kimberly C. Ellis (aka Dr. Goddess), Brenda Tate, Charlene Foggie-Barnett, Phillis Lavelle, Norma J. Thompson and Marlene Ramsey.

Ping Chong & Company creates innovative works of theatre and art for modern, multi-cultural audiences. The company is artist-run, providing an artistic home and professional base for a multi-racial core group of performers, designers and theatre artists who collaborate with Mr.Chong on a project basis.

The same historic Hill District, Wilson's boyhood neighborhood, is about a mile from the new August Wilson Center for African American Culture.

Originally conceived as a home base for Pittsburgh's rich Black heritage and a showcase for today's visual, performing and literary arts, the African American Cultural Center was renamed the August Wilson Center for African American Culture following the untimely death of the Steel City's Pulitzer Prize-winning native son in 2005.

Since its incorporation as a nonprofit organization in 2002, the August Wilson Center has presented and co-presented a diverse mix of music, dance, theater, spoken word, visual art and literary productions featuring both national and local artists.

In the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh, the Center sits on a triangular plot that is slightly less than an acre between the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and the city's Cultural District. The Center joins dozens of venues that have transformed a downtown area once shunned for its undesirable activity and shabby real estate into a destination location for residents as well as visitors from around the world.

Tickets for "The Aunt Ester Cycle" range from $18 to $28 per play; $10 per symposium; and $85.50 for all four plays plus the symposia series. For tickets, call 412.456.6666 or visit pgharts.org. For groups of 10 or more, call 412.471.6930.