Lou Bellamy to Direct RADIO GOLF at Cleveland Play House, 2/10

Lou Bellamy, Artistic Director of the acclaimed Penumbra Theatre, will direct the Cleveland Play House production of Radio Golf, the Tony Award®-nominated finale of playwright August Wilson's unprecedented ten-play cycle chronicling African-American life in the 20th century. Bellamy has been described as the foremost living interpreter of work of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, and his Penumbra Theatre is proud to have produced more of Wilson's plays than any other theatre in the world. Radio Golf, a co-production with Indiana Repertory Theatre, will begin in the Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare on Friday, February 10 and run through Sunday, March 4, 2012. Tickets are available at PlayhouseSquare ticket office by calling 216-241-6000 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. Radio Golf is presented with support from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Ohio Arts Council.

Set in Pittsburgh in 1997, the Hill District has fallen into blight -- a crime-ridden ghetto full of condemned abandoned buildings. Harmond Wilks is a bright, engaging, Ivy-League educated man who grew up in "the Hill." He has returned to work in his father's real estate company and is running for mayor. The idealistic young politician and his ambitious college friend Roosevelt Hicks are organizing an urban renewal in the neighborhood. They have bought up a block of abandoned properties and are just weeks away from demolishing them to pave the way for a structure of chain stores, apartments and condos. When Elder Joseph Barlow disputes their claim of the rights on one of the houses, it sets off a storm of controversy that may jeopardize the project and Wilks' mayoral campaign, as well as a very real question about the value of heritage compared to the necessity of progress.

This phenomenon is epitomized in Radio Golf by Harmond Wilks and Roosevelt Hicks, real estate developers who, to further their personal ambitions, are preparing to tear down the last vestiges of the historical African American presence in Pittsburgh. The address of Aunt Ester's residence, 1839 Wylie, is an allusion to the historical irony of their planned demolition. In 1839 there was an outbreak of racial violence in Pittsburgh as white residents of the city, who resented the growth of black populations in the North, did considerable damage to the city's black neighborhoods by burning and tearing down houses. In Radio Golf, set a century and a half later, this destruction is now being planned by African Americans themselves.

Cleveland Play House will be sponsoring events during the run of Radio Golf that use this August Wilson play as a way of connecting patrons to the challenges African-Americans face every day in advancing their civic and corporate careers. In cooperation with the Commission on Economic Inclusion (a program of the Greater Cleveland Partnership), "Business of Progress" seminars will be taking place at several large corporate employers such as KeyBank and Lubrizol. In addition, CPH will present in partnership with CSU Black Studies Program and Howard A. Mims African American Cultural Center several events billed as "August Wilson in Spring Semester," a series of panel discussions and colloquiums about the legacy of August Wilson.

Leading the cast is James Craven, who will play the role of Harmond Wilks. Craven is a longtime member of Penumbra Theatre Company and has performed as on Broadway in The Gospel at Colonus, and is the 2011 recipient of the Ten Chimneys Foundation Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship.

The role of Roosevelt Hicks will be performed by actor David Alan Anderson, who previously appeared at CPH in A Raisin in the Sun (2008), also directed by Lou Bellamy. Regional credits include Indiana Repertory Theatre, Penumbra Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, Arizona Theatre Company, Kansas City Rep, and Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Abdul Salaam El Razzac will perform the role of Elder Joseph Barlow. He is an alumnus of Karamu House here in Cleveland and a founding member of Penumbra Theatre Company. El Razzac portrayed Avery in the national tour of The Piano Lesson, and regional appearances include Los Angeles Theatre Center, American Conservatory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Guthrie Theater, South Coast Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Kansas City Rep, and Arizona Theatre Company.

Austene Van will perform the role of Mame Wilks. Van recently directed at Park Square Theater, History Theatre, Ordway and Penumbra Theatre. Her acting credits include Gem of the Ocean, Blue, Ain't Misbehavin' at Penumbra Theatre. Terry Bellamy, an actor, director, playwright, and educator, will perform the role of Sterling Johnson. Regional theatre credits include Guthrie Theater, Baltimore CENTERSTAGE, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Goodman Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and The National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC.

For a complete list of cast bios, go online at http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/main-stage/radio-golf

August Wilson, the playwright, authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf among many others. His works explore the heritage and experience of African Americans, decade by decade, over the course of the twentieth century. Wilson's plays have been produced at regional theatres across the country, on Broadway and throughout the world. His work garnered many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain's Olivier Award for Jitney; eight New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards; Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships; the Whiting Writers' Award; the 2003 Heinz Award; and a 1985 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. He was presented a 1999 National Humanities Medal by the President of the United States and received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Broadway changed the name of the theatre at 245 West 52nd Street to August Wilson Theatre. In 2007 he was posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. Born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Wilson lived in Seattle at the time of his death.

Lou Bellamy, Director, is founder and artistic director of Penumbra Theatre. During his 36-year tenure, Penumbra has evolved into one of America's premier theatres dedicated to dramatic exploration of the African American experience. Under Bellamy's leadership, Penumbra has produced 24 world premieres, including August Wilson's first professional production, and is proud to have produced more of Wilson's plays than any other theatre in the world. Bellamy is an Obie Award-winning director, an accomplished actor, and a sought after scholar. Directing credits include A Raisin in the Sun at Cleveland Play House, Arizona Theatre Company, and Guthrie Theater; I Wish You Love at Penumbra, Kennedy Center, and Hartford Stage; Two Trains Running at Signature Theatre in New York; Jitney at The Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Arizona Theatre Company; and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at Arizona Theatre and the Guthrie Theater. He was for years a widely known and respected associate professor in the University of Minnesota's Department of Theatre and Dance.

The design team for Radio Golf includes Vicki Smith (Scenic Design), Don Darnutzer (Lighting Design), Karen Perry (Costume Design), and Todd Mack Reischman (Sound Design). Also on the team: Dramaturg Richard J. Roberts and Stage Manager Shannon Habenicht. For a complete list of design team bios, go online at http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/main-stage/radio-golf

Single tickets are on sale now; prices range from $49 to $69. Tickets are $15 for all students under the age of 25. For single tickets, please contact The PlayhouseSquare ticket office at 216-241-6000 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. Groups of 10+ save up to 50% off single ticket prices; call 216-400-7027 or email cwheeler@clevelandplayhouse.com.

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