One of America's most powerful and original dramatists, August Wilson offered an alternative history of the twentieth century, as seen from the perspective of black Americans. He celebrated the lives of those seemingly pushed to the margins of national life, but who were simultaneously protagonists of their own drama and evidence of a vital and compelling community. Decade by decade, he told the story of a people with a distinctive history who forged their own future, aware of their roots in another time and place, but doing something more than just survive. Wilson deliberately addressed black America, but in doing so discovered an international audience. Alongside chapters addressing Wilson's life and career, and the wider context of his plays, this Companion dedicates individual chapters to each play in his ten-play cycle, which are ordered chronologically, demonstrating Wilson's notion of an unfolding history of the twentieth century.
Christopher Bigsby
Available On:
Radio Golf is August Wilson’s final play. Set in 1990 Pittsburgh, it is the conclusion of his Century Cycle—Wilson’s ten-play chronicle of the African American experience throughout the twentieth century—and is the last play he completed before his death. With Radio Golf Wilson’s…
King Hedley II is the 8th work in playwright August Wilson's 10-play cycle chronicling the history of the African-American experience in each decade of the 20th century. It's set in 1985 and tells the story of an ex-con in post-Reagan Pittsburgh trying to rebuild his life. Many c…
When Herald Loomis arrives at a black Pittsburgh boardinghouse after seven years' impressed labor on Joe Turner's chain gang, he is a free man-in body. But the scars of his enslavement and a sense of inescapable alienation oppress his spirit still, and the seemingly hospitable ro…
In little more than twenty years, playwright August Wilson (1945-2005) completed a ten-play cycle depicting African American life in the twentieth century, with each play taking place in a different decade. Two of the plays—Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990)—were awarded t…
Offers new essays that address issues raised in Wilson's "The Ground on Which I Stand" speech. Essays and interviews range from examinations of the presence of Wilson's politics in his plays to the limitations of these politics on contemporary interpretations of Black aesthetics.…
August Wilson's radical and provocative call to arms.
Examines the careers of seven award-winning playwrights: David Adjmi, Julia Cho, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Will Eno, Martyna Majok, Dominique Morisseau and Anna Ziegler. Covering all their plays, including several as yet unpublished, nothing their critical reception while drawing on…
Many of the American playwrights who dominated the 20th century are no longer with us: Edward Albee, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Neil Simon, August Wilson and Wendy Wasserstein. A new generation, whose careers began in this century, has emerged, and done so when the theatre itsel…
The Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show will record a cast album, featuring Rachel Dratch as “Narrator,” Luke Evans as “Frank-N-Furter,” Amber Gray as “Riff Raff,” Stephanie Hsu as “Janet,” Juliette Lewis as “Magenta,” and more.
This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording – Songs from the Musical by Stephen Trask and Peter Yanowitz is out now in digital and streaming formats.
Night Side Songs – the cast album of the transformative new musical produced by Lincoln Center Theater at LCT3 / the Claire Tow Theater – is available in streaming and digital formats now with a music video for My Stuff out now.
The original Broadway cast recording for Schmigadoon! is currently available to stream everywhere you listen to music.
Composer Yu-Peng Chen, known for scoring Genshin Impact, will release a 12-movement symphonic suite for piano and orchestra tracing a journey from birth to farewell.
Night Side Songs – the cast album, will be released in streaming and digital formats.
BroadwayWorld has your exclusive first listen to Lena Hall singing Lay Your Head from This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording – Songs from the Musical.
The musical Suffs is being adapted into a young adult novel! The book is written by the musical's writer, Shaina Taub, alongside author Betsy Cornwell.
Tony Award-winning producer and founder and CEO of Broadway Plus, Nathaniel Hill, is releasing a book.
Composer Micah Levy has released a revised, updated version of his orchestral children's album, previously performed by the Dallas, San Diego and Utah Symphonies, for streaming platforms.
Center Stage Records will release This Ain’t No Disco: World Premiere Recording – Songs from the Musical by Stephen Trask and Peter Yanowitz in digital and streaming formats.
That Parenting Musical recently recorded a studio cast album starring Christopher Jackson, Kara Lindsay, Bonnie Milligan, Max Mendoza Crumm, Vidushi Goyal, and Scott Rathbun, with a release date yet to be revealed.
Joy Machine Records will release two new singles from the upcoming album Beau: The Musical (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording) in August, with a full album due this fall.
Octoverse Media and Warner Music Group's Arts Music will release the cast album of the Lincoln Center Theater musical, with a single from THE LAZOURS' score out now.
Studio Seven Classical has rereleased Robert Miller's MA PETITE FLEUR, a string quartet arranged by David Shenton, in a newly remixed and remastered version.
The Tony Award winning Best Musical Schmigadoon! released its second single from the original Broadway cast recording, “Tribulation,” featuring Tony Award-nominee Ana Gasteyer, the Schmigadoon! Original Broadway Company and the Schmorchestra.
Atlantic Records has unveiled the pre-order for CATS: The Jellicle Ball (Original Broadway Cast Recording), the official companion to the wildly acclaimed Tony Award-winning musical revival.
Empire: Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording has been released in digital and streaming formats.
Atlantic Records will release physical editions of Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years (25th Anniversary Live at the London Palladium), starring Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt.
The musical comedy concept album, featuring Chris Sullivan and Kimiko Glenn, is now streaming after its songs and cast drew more than 10 million views online.
Keke Palmer's audio comedy THE WEDDINGS OF LADY MISS JACQUELINE will premiere on Audible, featuring Sheryl Lee Ralph, Danielle Brooks and Zachariah Porter, alongside a trailer for a companion microdrama series.
An EP of songs from Romero & Juliet, a new musical based on elements from Shakespeare’s timeless love story and the zombie lore of filmmaker George Romero, has been released.
The 2025 Broadway Cast Recording of CHESS will be released on CD and vinyl next month.
Two-time Tony nominee Bill Russell has written a memoir chronicling his path from a South Dakota upbringing to a career as a Broadway writer, with a New York book signing planned to mark its release.
TCG Books will publish Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Pulitzer Prize-finalist play EVERYBODY, now available for pre-order ahead of its release.
Star Machine The EP will be released on all major streaming services, featuring six tracks from the original new musical Star Machine.
Center Stage Records announced the release of Sappho: The Poetess, an EP written and performed by Hayley Canham, ahead of performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London's Young Vic.
Heartbeat Opera will release its first full-length recording, an English-language, Broadway-infused reimagining of Massenet's opera, made at Power Station Studios with Lexicon Classics.
A five-song studio cast recording of the new musical about balloonist Sophie Blanchard is available for streaming, featuring Tony winner Lauren Patten and Britney Coleman.
Sophia Anne Caruso released the single 'Higher State' ahead of her debut album On Ecstatic, a hyperpop record blending electronic production with personal songwriting.
