PLAY OF THE DAY! Today's Play: THE PIANO LESSON by August Wilson

During this time when productions all over the world have been put on pause, we are coming together to celebrate plays that have left their mark on theater history.

This week we will be focusing on the plays of August Wilson.

Today's play, The Piano Lesson!

The Piano Lesson is the fourth play in August Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle. It received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

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.

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.