The Shakespeare & Company production of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” proves why the play, first produced on Broadway in 1990, deserved winning the Pulitzer Prize for drama as well as the Tony Award for Best Play.
The work is reminiscent of the great plays Eugene O’Neill wrote in the 1930s, that Tennessee Williams wrote in the 1940s and even those Kitchen Table Dramas that in the 1950s dominated theater in the U.S., as well as the UK.
It is a richly texted work that creates several strong, complicated individuals. Wilson gives them conflict with an issue that is beyond compromise. He also hypnotizes the audience with dazzling, honest language as he creates a universe that is real and compelling.
This might be the largest play to be offered in the intimate indoor Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. Director Christopher V. Edwards not only finds every emotion in the material, his blocking makes what could be a series of traffic jams a smooth, deeply personal presentation. Most important, Edwards finds the universality of the family conflicts, but manages to make the dilemma of special importance to this Black family in Pittsburgh in 1936.
The conflict revolves around a piano that has been in the family for generations. It is co-owned by Boy Willie, a sharecropper who has spent time in prison and his sister Bernice, a widow with a teenage daughter. Boy Willie has an opportunity to purchase the land he works and selling the piano will help provide the money he needs. Bernice sees the piano as a cultural touchstone for the family. Their grandmother carved the faces of their ancestors, who were slaves, onto the piano. To her, it is a family treasure whose worth is beyond dollars.
On the obvious level, it is a conflict about whether to honor the past or try to change the future. But it is more. There are eight characters in the play and we learn about their pasts, dreams and alliances with the family. It is a play with eight well drawn characters and numerous subplots. Each helps us understand the African-American experience.
Making it more unique is the time period of 1936 which is approximately halfway between the Civil War and the present. The lack of social progress between each point is sadly revealing.
On top of the richness of the material is the awesome performances. This is a coproduction with Shakespeare & Company and Actors’ Shakespeare Project of Boston. The cast offered the show for several weeks earlier in the year and stayed together for this run. The actors relationships with each other and with the material is palpable. You will not see a better production of “The Piano Lesson”.
A standout is Jade Guerra as Bernice. Playwright Wilson’s original intent for the play was to create a strong woman. This he did with Bernice, a character that offers many choices for an actor. Guerra opts to make the woman enigmatic rather than dogmatic. In her hands Bernice is as vulnerable as she is strong. This interpretation brings depth, restrained passion and an innate intelligence to the woman.
As Boy Willie, Omar Robinson is a fireball of intensity. His energy makes him the dominant figure in act one, almost to the point where he exhausts the audience. It might be too much, but there is no argument that he creates an indelible character worthy of sympathy and understanding.
The supporting roles are perfect. The actor who calls himself “ranny” has become a summer regular at Shakespeare & Company. Once again, he earns the right for the demand to be known by a single name, all without capital letters. As Wining Boy, an uncle to the pair, the gambler dominates every scene he is in. He doesn’t “upstage,” he just commands attention.
As the uncle, Doaker, the patriarch of the family, Jonathan Kitt brings wise dignity to a man everyone respects. The rest of the cast is their equal, as there is not a weak link.
But, there is a problem. Though the play and the production are worth experiencing, a trigger alert must be issued, especially in this era when the 90-minute theater experience dominates.
“The Piano Lesson” runs almost three hours and not every scene has equal value. There are many moments, especially the individual monologues, that are delicious but extraneous. With judicious editing (which under copyright law is illegal) the work could easily come in under two and a half hours.
In other words, “The Piano Lesson” is somewhat overwritten and has moments that strain your attention span. However, this does not diminish the worth of the material. The same can be said of the plays by O’Neill and Williams, many of which are revered.
I am very happy I got to experience this truly superior theater production. You might be too. It continues through August 24. For schedule and tickets go to Shakespeare.org
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
