August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON Will Receive a Netflix Adaptation

Netflix officially announced today that an adaptation of August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" will arrive on the streamer from the producers of the recent adaptation of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."

The Piano Lesson is set in 1936 Pittsburgh and follows the lives of the Charles family as they deal with themes of family legacy and more, in deciding what to do with an heirloom, the family piano.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the play will bow on Broadway again in 2022 with a cast featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks, and John David Washington. Following its Broadway run, the same cast will star in its film adaptation, making it the third of Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle plays be adapted as a movie, following Fences (2016) and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020).

The play was first staged in 1986 at the National Playwrights Conference. It was then staged in 1988 at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, and then opened on Broadway in 1990. The production starred Carl Gordon, Charles S. Dutton, Rocky Carroll, S. Epatha Merkerson and more. The 1990 production won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play. It won the Peabody Award in 1995.

The TV adaptation of The Piano lesson was nominated for the 1995 Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie and the 1996 Emmy Award Outstanding Television Movie or Mini-Series.

The Piano Lesson was revived Off-Broadway in 2013 and starred Roslyn Ruff, Brandon J. Dirden, Chuck Cooper, and more. It won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival, as well as Outstanding Lead Actress, Outstanding Featured Actor, and Outstanding Director.

See Netflix's announcement here: