The August Wilson Estate and New York Public Radio Will Release August Wilson's American Century Cycle to 15 Locations Across the Country

The August Wilson estate and New York Public Radio will release audio recordings of the playwright's American Century Cycle in 15 cultural institutions across the country, American Theatre reports.

The plays were recorded at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space in 2013 and will be made available to scholars, historians, and artists as an educational resource.

"I can't imagine a more meaningful moment than now to make these historic recordings available to the next generation of artists and scholars, as people take to the streets across the world to speak truth to power," said Constanza Romero, executor of the August Wilson estate and Wilson's widow, in a statement.

The institutions that will house the recordings onsite, include: The August Wilson African American Cultural Center (Pittsburgh); The Billie Holiday Theatre (Brooklyn); Cal Arts (Los Angeles); Dartmouth College (Hanover); Howard University (Washington, DC); The Juilliard School (New York); National Museum of African History and Culture (Washington DC); New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (New York); New York University (New York); North Carolina School of the Arts (Winston Salem); Northwestern University (Chicago); Pittsburgh University (Pittsburgh); The Schomburg Center (New York); Atlanta University Center Consortium with Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College (Atlanta); and Yale Drama School (New Haven).

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August Wilson's crowning achievement is The Pittsburgh Cycle, his series of ten plays that charts the African American experience throughout the twentieth century. All of them are set in Pittsburgh's Hill District except for one, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which is set in Chicago. The cycle is also known as his 'Century Cycle'. The plays are listed below followed by the year he wrote them, the decade they reflect and a mini plot summary.

The plays include Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf.