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High School Students Discuss August Wilson in Play by Play

By: Jan. 23, 2006
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The life and works of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, who passed away on August 2nd, 2005, are seen through the eyes of New York City high school students in the current issue of Theatre Development Fund's Play by Play which is now available online. Play by Play, which is beginning its tenth year of publication in 2006, is TDF's quarterly theatre newsletter written by and for teens.

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"Play by Play was first launched in the fall of 1996 with a cover story on Savion Glover in Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk. Since that first issue, there have been hundreds of reviews of Broadway and Off Broadway shows, exclusive interviews, internship listings, and ways to get inexpensive tickets - all written by New York City high school students. For educators, each issue has a companion Teacher Guide which helps them introduce Play by Play in their classrooms. In addition to being available online, Play by Play is distributed to thousands of NYC high school students as well as members of the theatre and arts-in-education community," according to press notes.

"Given that August Wilson was one of the giants of the twentieth century theatrical landscape, and that his plays had meant so much to thousands of students who have attended them over the years through our arts education programs, it seemed critically important to us that we share some of his accomplishments and his legacy through Play by Play," said TDF Executive Director Victoria Bailey. "It is our hope that this special issue, which begins our tenth year of publication, will have a longer than usual 'shelf life";and that it will help inspire students to read August Wilson's plays and search them out when they are performed."

Inside the current Special Issue, celebrating the life and works of August Wilson are: students' synopses of his 10 plays, from Jitney (1982) to Radio Golf (2005), a student roundtable discussion the work of August Wilson by a drama class at Adlai Stevenson High School in The Bronx, an interview with Phylicia Rashad on her role in Gem of the Ocean by a senior from Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens as well as a review of the production, a reprint of an essay by August Wilson which was a preface to the published version of King Hedley II; and a remembrance of August Wilson by Jujamcyn Theatres Creative Director and TDF Open Doors mentor, Jack Viertel, as told to a twelfth grader at the High School of Telecommunications, Arts and Technology in Brooklyn.

The current issue of Play by Play as well as all back-issues from Fall 1996 to the present are available at www.playbyplayonline.org.
 




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