The Piano Lesson is set in Pittsburgh's Hill District in 1936. A brother and sister are locked in a war over the fate of a family heirloom: a piano carved with the faces of their ancestors. Only by revisiting history can the siblings endeavor to move forward. Directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson, The Piano Lesson is a part of August Wilson's American Century Cycle, which chronicles the Black experience throughout the 20th Century over the course of ten plays.
Of the three well-known performers, Danielle Brooks stands out the most, her face an expressive journey, angry and grief-stricken at the death of her husband three years earlier, which she blames on Boy Willie. She is devastating when she tells what the piano meant to her, how her mother 'polished this piano with her tears for seventeen years. For seventeen years she rubbed on it till her hands bled. Then she rubbed the blood in... mixed it up with the rest of the blood on it.' But she is also exquisite - touching, warm and funny - in a scene with Boy Willie's friend Lyman, her very posture revealing the years of loneliness as Lyman tests out a bottle of perfume that he bought for a dollar from a man who said it was from Paris 'This is the same kind of perfume the Queen of France wear.'
Wilson clearly loves his characters and gives each one a big solo moment in the spotlight. Even the ghosts of the dead make themselves heard - chiefly Sutter, who manages to spook everyone by chasing bad-boy Willie Boy all the way north to Pittsburgh to plague him. Designers Beowulf Boritt (set), Japhy Weideman (lighting), and Scott Lehrer (sound) have given the dead man a good welcome, and he seems to get along with all the other haunts in the house.
1990 | Broadway |
Broadway |
2012 | Off-Broadway |
Signature Theatre Company Off-Broadway |
2022 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Danielle Brooks |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Ray Fisher |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play | Japhy Weideman |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | The Piano Lesson |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Wig and Hair | Cookie Jordan |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Danielle Brooks |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | John David Washington |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | The Piano Lesson |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | Danielle Brooks |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | Michael Potts |
2023 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Awards | John David Washington |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Samuel L. Jackson |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | The Piano Lesson |
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