Denzel Washington Reveals Next August Wilson Adaptation

This November, a new adaptation of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson will hit Netflix. Directed by Malcolm Washington, the film stars several actors reprising their roles from the recent Broadway revival including Michael Potts, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, and Samuel L. Jackson.

In a new interview with Variety, producers Denzel Washington and Todd Black shed some light on their ambitions to adapt the whole of Wilson's American Century Cycle. With three already under their belts- Fences, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and The Piano Lesson- they revealed that the next play making the jump from stage to screen will be Joe Turner's Come and Gone.

The play, set in the second decade of the 20th century, follows Herald Loomis, who, on a journey in search of his estranged wife, must first contend with his own sense of heritage and identity in a story of spiritual and emotional resurrection. The first Broadway production opened at the Ethel Berrymore Theatre in 1988. With a cast that included Delroy Lindo and Angela Bassett, that production was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning one. The 2009 Bartlett Sher-directed revival was also nominated for six Tonys, winning two. A Chicago production at The Goodman Theatre was staged earlier this year. 

"We haven’t talked about anybody involved in that yet," Washington said to Variety about the upcoming film adaptation, which sounds to be in the early stages of development. 

In the interview, the producers also discussed some details about The Piano Lesson, including working with Danielle Deadwyler and Ray Fisher, and what it was like to watch his son Malcolm take up the directing reins for the movie. Read more at Variety.

About The Piano Lesson

 A battle is brewing in the Charles Household. At the center stands a prized heirloom piano tearing two siblings apart. On one side, a brother (John David Washington) plans to build the family fortune by selling it. On the other, a sister (Danielle Deadwyler) will go to any lengths to hold onto the sole vestige of the family’s heritage.  Their uncle (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to mediate,  but even he can’t hold back the ghosts of the past.

Adapted from August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork, THE PIANO LESSON explores the intergenerational dynamics of identity, resilience and transcendence - revealing startling truths about how we perceive the past and who gets to define our legacy. The movie will receive a limited theatrical release on November 8 and be available to stream on Netflix on November 22.

Part of Wilson's American Century Cycle, the original production of the play premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1987, also starring Samuel L. Jackson. In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize for drama, The Piano Lesson won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, the Peabody Award, and was nominated for the 1990 Tony Award for Best Play.