Seven Guitars at University of Illinois at Chicago

Authors

• August Wilson

Blues singer Floyd "Schoolboy" Barton is asked by executives of the record label for which he'd recorded a song a year previous--and now radio hit--to return to Chicago to record more songs. In the time since the recording of the first album, Floyd has squandered the flat fee he received for recording, left his girlfriend (Vera) for another woman, was then left by the other woman, pawned his guitar, and spent ninety days in jail after being arrested while walking home from his mother's funeral. After a year of trials and tribulations, Floyd is ready to right the past year's wrongs and return to Chicago with a new understanding of what's important in his life. Unfortunately his means of righting wrongs are inherently flawed. Awards: 1996 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play. Nominations: 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 1996 Drama Desk Award for Best Play and 1996 Tony Award for Best Play.