The Piano Lesson is set in Pittsburgh's Hill District in 1936. A brother and sister are locked in a war over the fate of a family heirloom: a piano carved with the faces of their ancestors. Only by revisiting history can the siblings endeavor to move forward. Directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson, The Piano Lesson is a part of August Wilson's American Century Cycle, which chronicles the Black experience throughout the 20th Century over the course of ten plays.
Ray Fisher comes through as a stealth MVP, playing Boy Willie's dim-witted sidekick Lymon. Fisher understands the universal imperative that all anyone ever wanted was a tall, handsome man, slightly dumb but naturally kind. A scene left alone with Brooks shows what the production could've been, had it leaned into one-on-one relations all the way instead of merely dipping into archetypes. April Matthis and Trai Byers are very fun as a would-be preacher and a good-time gal, respectively, both mixing horniness and passes at respectability to great comic effect. But this winds up being Michael Potts' show, despite what his role as the family drunkle Wining Boy might try to lock him into. A rowdy jumble of amiability, liquor, and exhaustion, it's impossible to take your eyes off him, or wonder what he's doing whenever not around.
If they don't all conjure the play's majestic rhythmicity with equal force and fluidity, they are able, under Ms. Richardson Jackson's robust and unapologetically reverent guidance, to do justice to the sheer beauty of Wilson's language and to his uncompromising humaneness.
1990 | Broadway |
Broadway |
2012 | Off-Broadway |
Signature Theatre Company Off-Broadway |
2022 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Danielle Brooks |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play | Ray Fisher |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play | Japhy Weideman |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | The Piano Lesson |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Wig and Hair | Cookie Jordan |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Danielle Brooks |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | John David Washington |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | The Piano Lesson |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | Danielle Brooks |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | Michael Potts |
2023 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Awards | John David Washington |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Samuel L. Jackson |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | The Piano Lesson |
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