VIDEO: Sneak Peek - Phylicia Rashad and More in PBS's August Wilson Special

THIRTEEN's AMERICAN MASTERS series and Pittsburgh PBS affiliate WQED join forces to explore the life and legacy of playwright August Wilson (April 27, 1945 - October 2, 2005) -- the man some call America's Shakespeare -- from his roots as an activist and poet to his indelible mark on Broadway. "AMERICAN MASTERS -- August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand" premieres Friday, February 20, 2015, at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) in honor of the 70th anniversary of Wilson's birth, the 10th anniversary of his death and Black History Month. The DVD will be available February 24 from PBS Distribution.

Click below to watch three excerpts, featuring Phylicia Rashad, Rosalyn Coleman and others performing exclusive, original dramatic readings from August Wilson's 10-play "Century Cycle"!

Unprecedented access to Wilson's theatrical archives, rarely seen interviews and new dramatic readings bring to life his seminal 10-play cycle chronicling each decade of the 20th-century African-American experience; including the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences and Pulitzer Prize-winning The Piano Lesson.

Film and theater luminaries, including Viola Davis, Charles Dutton, Laurence Fishburne, James Earl Jones, Suzan-Lori Parks and Phylicia Rashad, share their stories of the career- and life-changing experience of bringing Wilson's rich theatrical voice to the stage. Wilson's sister Freda Ellis; his widow, costume designer Constanza Romero; friends; colleagues and scholars trace Wilson's influences, creative evolution, triumphs, struggles and quest for cultural determinism before his untimely death from liver cancer.

"AMERICAN MASTERS -- August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand" is a co-production of WQED and THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC's AMERICAN MASTERS for WNET. Sam Pollard is director and producer. Stephen Stept is writer. Frank Caloiero is director of photography. Steve Wechsler is editor. Kathryn Bostic is composer. Darryl Ford Williams and Susan Lacy are executive producers. Michael Kantor is executive producer for American Masters.