“There’s a preservation of language and life in these plays,” says Samuel, who originated the role played by Washington, which he calls “the Hamlet of August Wilson,” in the first production of The Piano Lesson, at Yale Rep in 1987.

As the Great Depression drags on in 1936, two siblings, played by Danielle Brooks and John David Washington, are at odds over whether they should preserve their family’s fraught legacy, which has been intricately carved into the wood of a piano, or sell the instrument for a chance to buy the land their ancestors toiled on for generations.Īnd John David Washington in a role that Samuel L. At a time of eagerness to break cycles, Wilson’s continues to endure as a vivid vehicle for often overlooked histories. The Piano Lesson is part of Wilson’s sweeping Century Cycle, a series of 10 plays, nearly all set in Pittsburgh, that chronicle Black life in each decade of the 20th century. Jackson in the Pulitzer-winning drama’s first Broadway revival, currently at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. “There is something spiritual and metaphysical in our lives standing in for those things that we don’t face,” says LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who directs her husband Samuel L. The hit revival of Into The Woods then announced their extension.A ghost haunts the family at the center of The Piano Lesson, August Wilson’s keen reflection on the reverberations of slavery through its descendants’ pursuit of the American dream. This iconic playhouse is better suited to this play and was one of August Wilson’s favorite theaters, so it worked out ok.

James and the production began rehearsals on Aug. The Ethel Barrymore has about 400 fewer seats less than the St. James Theatre on Septembut had been blocked out by the current inhabitant of that theatre, the hit revival of Into The Woods, that will now extend its engagement beyond its current limited Summer run in the Fall. The Piano Lesson was scheduled to open at the St. Piano Lesson Switched From St James Theatre to the Barrymore Theatre Washington is the son of Denzel Washington. The show also stars Danielle Brooks and John David Washington as the sister and brother.

LaTanya Richardson Jackson directs her husband, Samuel L Jackson, in this revival and she will be the first woman to direct an August Wilson play on Broadway. This show marks the first Broadway revival in more than 30 years since the play’s premiere in 1990 that starred Carl Gordon, Charles S Dutton and S. August Wilson’s seminal, Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The Piano Lesson returns to Broadway.

Samuel jackson the piano lesson