STAGE TUBE: Yale Rep's THE PIANO LESSON

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, August Wilson's The Piano Lesson returns to Yale Rep, where it had its world premiere in 1987. The Piano Lesson was one of six plays in August Wilson's 10-play cycle chronicling the African American experience in the 20th century to premiere at Yale ReP. Wilson's other Yale Rep world premieres included Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1984), Fences (1985), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1986), Two Trains Running (1990), and Radio Golf (2005).

The cast features Joniece Abbott-Pratt; Eisa Davis; Tyrone Mitchell Henderson; Charlie Hudson, III; LeRoy McClain; Keith Randolph Smith; Charles Weldon; and Malenky Welsh.

Please note: Keith Randolph Smith has joined the company and will play the role of Doaker. He replaces Frankie R. Faison, who has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons.

August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON features original compositions and music direction by Eisa Davis, set design by DeDe Ayite, costumes by Jennifer Salim, lighting by Alan Edwards, sound by Junghoon Pi, vocal and dialect coaching by Beth McGuire, fight direction by Rick Sordelet, dramaturgy by Cheng-Han Wu, and stage management by Allison Hall Johnson.

Pittsburgh, 1936. An ornately carved upright piano sits in the home of Berniece Charles (Eisa Davis), who plans to pass it along to her daughter. But her brother, Boy Willie (LeRoy McClain), has another plan for the prized, hard-won heirloom: to sell it for the hard cash to buy the same Mississippi land that their family once worked as slaves. The Piano Lesson is the intimate story of a brother and sister and their struggle to embrace or deny their epic inheritance.

Tickets for August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON range from $10-85, are available online at www.yalerep.org, by phone at (203) 432-1234, and in person at the Yale Rep Box Office (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street). Student, senior, and group rates are also available.

 

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