Podcasts about century cycle

Danielle Deadwyler, who first grabbed the spotlight for her performance as Emmett Till's mother in the film “Till,” stars in a new film called “The Piano Lesson”—one of August Wilson's Century Cycle plays about Black life in Pittsburgh. Denzel Washington has committed to adapting and producing all ten of Wilson's Century Cycle plays; “The Piano Lesson” is directed by his son Malcolm, and his other son John David co-stars. Deadwyler plays Berniece, a widow who has kept the family piano after her migration north to Pittsburgh; her brother, who remained in Mississippi, wants to sell it to buy a plot of land. Themes of inheritance and history are central to the siblings' conflict. “Histories are passed as we keep doing things together . . . through struggle, through joy, through lovemaking, through challenge,” Deadwyler explained to the New Yorker's Doreen St. Félix. “The Piano Lesson” is playing in select theatres, and will be available on Netflix starting November 22nd.

Book Vs. Movie: FencesThe 1987 play Vs. the 2016 movieFor Black History Month, the Margos revisit playwright August Wilson (we covered Ma Rainey's Black Bottom last year.) Fences premiered on Broadway in 1987 and is a part of Wilson's acclaimed Pittsburgh Cycle, also known as the Century Cycle, a series of ten plays that chronicle the African American experience in the United States throughout each decade of the 20th century. This is a play about Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball player who now works as a garbage collector. Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, the story explores themes of race, family, generational trauma, and unfulfilled dreams. Troy's desire to build a fence around his yard symbolizes his need to protect his family and his sense of confinement.In this ep, the Margos discuss:The work of August Wilson.The plot of the storyThe differences between the play and the adaptation.The cast of the 2016 film: Denzel Washington ((Troy Maxson,) Viola Davis (Rose Lee Maxson,) Stephen McKinley Henderson (Jim Bono,) Russell Hornsby (Lyons Maxson,) Mykelti Williamson (Gabriel Maxson,) and Saniyya Sidney as Raynel Maxson.Clips used:Fences 2016 trailer“Why don't you like me?” (1987 James Earl Jones & Courtney Vance TONY Awards)“The same spot as you.”“I'm not going to Tray Maxson's funeral.”Music by Marcelo Zarvos.Book Vs. Movie is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find more podcasts you will love Frolic.Media/podcasts. Join our Patreon page “Book Vs. Movie podcast”You can find us on Facebook at Book Vs. Movie Podcast GroupFollow us on Twitter @bookversusmovieInstagram: Book Versus Movie https://www.instagram.com/bookversusmovie/Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com Margo D. Twitter @BrooklynMargo Margo D's Blog www.brooklynfitchick.com Margo D's Instagram “Brooklyn Fit Chick”Margo D's TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@margodonohuebrooklynfitchick@gmail.comYou can buy your copy of Filmed in Brooklyn here! Margo P. Twitter @ShesNachoMamaMargo P's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shesnachomama/Margo P's Blog https://coloniabook.weebly.com/ Our logo was designed by Madeleine Gainey/Studio 39 Marketing Follow on Instagram @Studio39Marketing & @musicalmadeleine

Book Vs. Movie: FencesThe 1987 play Vs. the 2016 movieFor Black History Month, the Margos revisit playwright August Wilson (we covered Ma Rainey's Black Bottom last year.) Fences premiered on Broadway in 1987 and is a part of Wilson's acclaimed Pittsburgh Cycle, also known as the Century Cycle, a series of ten plays that chronicle the African American experience in the United States throughout each decade of the 20th century. This is a play about Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball player who now works as a garbage collector. Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, the story explores themes of race, family, generational trauma, and unfulfilled dreams. Troy's desire to build a fence around his yard symbolizes his need to protect his family and his sense of confinement.In this ep, the Margos discuss:The work of August Wilson.The plot of the storyThe differences between the play and the adaptation.The cast of the 2016 film: Denzel Washington ((Troy Maxson,) Viola Davis (Rose Lee Maxson,) Stephen McKinley Henderson (Jim Bono,) Russell Hornsby (Lyons Maxson,) Mykelti Williamson (Gabriel Maxson,) and Saniyya Sidney as Raynel Maxson.Clips used:Fences 2016 trailer“Why don't you like me?” (1987 James Earl Jones & Courtney Vance TONY Awards)“The same spot as you.”“I'm not going to Tray Maxson's funeral.”Music by Marcelo Zarvos.Book Vs. Movie is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find more podcasts you will love Frolic.Media/podcasts. Join our Patreon page “Book Vs. Movie podcast”You can find us on Facebook at Book Vs. Movie Podcast GroupFollow us on Twitter @bookversusmovieInstagram: Book Versus Movie https://www.instagram.com/bookversusmovie/Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com Margo D. Twitter @BrooklynMargo Margo D's Blog www.brooklynfitchick.com Margo D's Instagram “Brooklyn Fit Chick”Margo D's TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@margodonohuebrooklynfitchick@gmail.comYou can buy your copy of Filmed in Brooklyn here! Margo P. Twitter @ShesNachoMamaMargo P's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shesnachomama/Margo P's Blog https://coloniabook.weebly.com/ Our logo was designed by Madeleine Gainey/Studio 39 Marketing Follow on Instagram @Studio39Marketing & @musicalmadeleine

This podcast is packed with stories and memories which reveal the strength and toughness of competitors in grass track races, and what it took to win the biggest race of the year - The Rás Tailteann in the 1950s. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heidi Kraay is a playwright and writer across disciplines. Her work examines the connection between brain and body, seeking empathy with fractured characters. She pulls myth, metaphor and monsters together to attempt connections across difference. Her plays, including Unwind: Hindsight is 2020, see in the dark, How to Hide Your Monster, New Eden, Me and My Shadow, Kilgore, as well as co-devised plays, plays for young audiences, one-acts and short plays, have been presented nationally and internationally.   Learn more about Heidi and her work at: http://www.heidikraay.com/  Wolf/Girl: https://www.morrisoncenter.com/events/detail/wolf-girl 

This is our 100th full episode of the Making after School Cool podcast and I am excited to have colleagues of CASE for Kids to share in the impressive achievement. The topic of today's episode focusing on the startup of after schools' programs as we begin a new school year. According to the According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the more positive outlets students have at school the better they will feel about the campus. During this episode you will learn about: What inspired professionals to work in the out of school time field Why are after school programs important for youth and their parents . What the most exciting part this program year Guest Chuntania Moore, and Melvin Mead, Regional Site Coordinators of Campus-based Afterschool Programs :Gabby Sams and Maria Adeoti, After School Program Coordinators and Monique Smith, Project Direct  of 21st Century Cycle 10 campuses. Resources Mike Wilson mwilson@hcde-texas.org  Harris County Department of Education https://hcde-texas.org  CASE for Kids https://hcde-texas.org/afterschool-zone    

August Wilson's "Century Cycle," comprised of ten plays detailing and exploring the life of African Americans throughout the 1900s, is famously set in his hometown of Pittsburgh. But for the last 15 years of his life Wilson lived in Seattle, drawing inspiration from café windows and conversations at the local IHOP.

The Court Theatre last week won the 2022 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The award recognizes the theater for “Fostering local talent,” according to the American Theater Wing, which manages the award. The Court is the University of Chicago's professional theater company. Its current production, Two Trains Running, is the Court's ninth of ten plays in August Wilson's Century Cycle, which documents Black life in the 20th century. Reset checks in with Charlie Newell, the Court's artistic director, and Ron OJ Parson, director of Two Trains Running. Host: Sasha-Ann Simons Producer: Char Daston Guests: Ron OJ Parson, Angel Ysaguirre

August Wilson wrote a whole bunch of plays, all of which contain dialogue and take place at certain points in history. He's most notable for his Pittsburgh aka Century Cycle, so we decided to talk about one of the standouts: Fences. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis. Advertise on Overdue See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week our guest is TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's artistic director Tim Bond, now directing August Wilson's 'Gem of the Ocean' there.

We're back to your usually scheduled programming with August Wilson, an extraordinary playwright who revolutionized American theatre with his Century Cycle. We jump across America, following Wilson's unstoppable efforts and success, exploring what it truly means to 'lean ahead'. 

Julius Tennon is an actor, producer and along with his wife Oscar-winning Viola Davis their company Juvee Productions executive produced the documentary 'Giving Voice' along with “Fences” co-star Denzel Washington. “Giving Voice,” is a new Netflix documentary that follows the emotional journey of six students as they advance through the high-stakes August Wilson Monologue Competition, an annual event that celebrates one of America's preeminent playwrights. Every year, thousands of students from 12 cities across the United States perform the Pulitzer Prize winner's work for a shot to perform on Broadway. Directors Jim Stern and Fernando Villena capture students discovering themselves and the world around them through Wilson's “Century Cycle,” a canon of ten plays portraying the 20th century African American experience.  Giving Voice won the Festival Favorite Award at The 2020 Sundance Film Festival. We caught up with Julius to discuss the importance of August Wilson Watch Giving Voice on Netflix - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82N4-Qa-hWs

A new generation of performers is discovered in “Giving Voice,” a new Netflix documentary that follows the emotional journey of six students as they advance through the high-stakes August Wilson Monologue Competition, an annual event that celebrates one of America's preeminent playwrights. Callie Holley is one of the participants of the annual August Wilson Monologue Competition. Every year, thousands of students from 12 cities across the United States perform the Pulitzer Prize winner's work for a shot to perform on Broadway. Directors Jim Stern and Fernando Villena capture students discovering themselves and the world around them through Wilson's “Century Cycle,” a canon of ten plays portraying the 20th century African American experience.  Executive produced by Viola Davis, along with “Fences” co-star Denzel Washington, Giving Voice won the Festival Favorite Award at The 2020 Sundance Film Festival. We caught up with Callie to find out more about her experience ... Watch Giving Voice on Netflix - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82N4-Qa-hWs

Today we’re on the line with stage managers, educators, and authors, Narda E. Alcorn and Lisa Porter where we’re discussing their new book, Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach, their recent HowlRound essay, "We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education," and what we as designers, creators, stage managers, and industry professionals can do to make anti-racist theatres and entertainment a reality.Narda E. Alcorn is a Professor and Stage Manager who has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally, and internationally. In 2019, Narda was appointed Chair of the Stage Management Program at Yale School of Drama. She has been Head of Stage Management for New York University, DePaul University, and State University of New York at Purchase. She received DePaul’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2015 and The Robert Christen Award for Excellence in Technical Collaboration in 2017.On Broadway, Narda has had collaborations with the Tony-winning directors Kenny Leon, Bartlett Sher, and George C. Wolfe. She premiered four of Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright August Wilson’s Century Cycle plays, and stage managed two Broadway revivals of his work. Her New York and Regional credits include productions with Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Billy Crystal, Kevin Kline, Annette Bening, Phylicia Rashad, David Schwimmer, and Richard Foreman. Narda was a long-time stage manager on the Broadway production of The Lion King, and she has collaborated with the celebrated MacArthur Fellows, composer George E. Lewis and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. She has recently co-published, with Lisa Porter, Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach and the essay We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education on HowlRound.Lisa Porter is a Professor of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, San Diego, where she has taught since 2005. She is the Head of the MFA in Stage Management, and teaches graduate and undergraduate stage management. She has also developed courses related to creativity, neuroscience, disability, and performance. Lisa has taught in the MFA Stage Management program at Yale School of Drama, and has led international classes in Singapore, Taiwan, and China.Working in diverse venues on six continents, Lisa’s career has included international projects with Laurie Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Anne Bogart, Hal Hartley, Yo-Yo Ma, Silkroad Ensemble, White Oak Dance Project, and Robert Wilson. She has collaborated extensively on multiple intercultural productions with Singaporean director Ong Keng Sen and TheatreWorks Singapore. Her New York and Regional credits include productions with Christopher Ashley, Charles Busch, Jonathan Demme, Richard Foreman, Doug Hughes, Tina Landau, Kenny Leon, Suzan-Lori Parks, Darko Tresnjak, and Mark Wing-Davey. She has also produced and stage managed non-profit and corporate events since 1996. She has recently co-published, with Narda E. Alcorn, Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach and the essay We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education on HowlRound.Interested in hearing more from Narda and Lisa? Register for their upcoming USITT Webinar, "Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach" taking place Monday, Oct. 19 @ 7 p.m. EDT. This webinar is free for USITT members and $15 for non-members. Advanced registration is required. Register here: https://secure.usitt.org/NC__Event?id=a0l0b00000Djoy0AAB

It's Thursday, which means theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom in with her weekly review of the Maryland stage.Today, she discusses Radio Golf, by August Wilson – the final installment in his ten-part Century Cycle. Directed by Carl Cofield, Radio Golf is the story of an African-American real estate developer running for mayor of Pittsburgh in the mid-1990s who struggles with his role in gentrifying his childhood neighborhood.

The big open, on all things August Wilson. In a deep dive on August Wilson's JITNEY, Kevin drills down with Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson and actor Francois Battiste, and visits with Constanza Romero Wilson about her legendary husband's life, legacy, and the future of the Pulitzer Prize-winner's “Century Cycle.” Plus, a cameo by Tony Kushner. (As if a Tony Kushner cameo could ever be just a cameo.) August Wilson's JITNEY was produced on Broadway by Manhattan Theatre Club in association with Eric Falkenstein, Ron Simons, John Legend/Mike Jackson and Ken Wirth, with direction by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. A national tour launched at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 13, 2019 with upcoming stops in Detroit (Nov. 12 -16), Los Angeles (Nov. 22 - Dec. 29), San Diego (Jan 18 - Feb. 23), and Seattle (Feb. 28 - Mar 29.) Ticket information can be found at http://www.playbill.com/production/jitney. Credits The Backdrop is hosted by Kevin Bleyer and produced by Nella Vera. Special thanks to Samantha Schneider, Erin Salvi, Arena Stage and Theatre Communications Group/TCG Books. The Backdrop artwork is by Philip Romano. The August Wilson Century Cycle can be purchased on the TCG website. Follow Kevin Bleyer and Nella Vera on Twitter: @kevinbleyer / @spinstripes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EQ: How can the theater arts be a tool for racial and social justice?Guest: Sara Freeman, UPS Theatre DepartmentIn this episode we chat about the etymology of dramaturgy, discuss the power of theater as a medium to both reflect and influence society, and how every choice in theater is intentional (whether the director wanted it to be or not). We discuss the challenges of funding arts programs, finding young artists where they are, and how to intentionally elevate new voices. Freeman’s Favorite Playwrights:Timberlake Wertenbaker “Our Country’s Good” Caryl Churchill “The Skriker” Sarah Ruhl “Eurydice”Naomi Iizuka “36 Views” Adrienne Kennedy Also referenced during the episode:2018 Race & Pedagogy ConferenceC. Rosalind Bell, Tacoma PlaywrightColor Blind to Color-Conscious CastingGuilty-Favsies:Annie: the Best of Broadway on SpotifyHope: bingeing short little shows on NetflixSara:Hostess cupcakes; Belinda CarlisleDo Your Fudging Homework:Annie: the Kennedy Center has a variety of resources on arts integration under a program called Arts EdgeHope: Support local theaterSara: Read August Wilson’s “Century Cycle” and go support local theater by watching “Mojada” at Tacoma Arts Live. Directed by Maria Tania Barreca, a new professor at UWT

Eugene Lee is currently on Broadway in American Son. He is considered a “Wilsonian Warrior” for his many appearances in the works of August Wilson, including the Broadway production of Gem of the Ocean. He performed in five of Wilson’s 10 plays at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and in the taped PBS recordings of all ten plays in the Century Cycle as well as in August Wilson’s final autobiographical one-man piece, “How I Learned What I Learned.” His He most recently appeared in the independent film “Thunder Road,” winner of the Best Narrative Feature Award at the SXSW Film Festival in 2018. Follow the show on social media at @americansonplay.Hosted by Paul Wontorek, Andy Lefkowitz and Caitlin Moynihan

Meet two giants of the American theater: playwright August Wilson and director Lloyd Richards. Together they brought many award-winning plays to Broadway, including "Fences," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," and "The Piano Lesson." August Wilson, who wrote ten plays (together known as the Century Cycle), started out as a poet. When he turned to writing plays, intent on telling the stories of African-Americans on stage, it was Lloyd Richards who recognized his talent and helped him shape it. Richards was already an icon in the theater world. He had begun his career a generation before, aspiring to be an actor at a time when there were almost no roles for African-Americans. His big break came when Sidney Poitier asked him to direct a new play called "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. In this episode you'll hear Lloyd Richards tell the story behind that ground-breaking production. You'll also hear both August Wilson and Lloyd Richards describe how they came to meet and have one of the most successful artistic collaborations in history. Music in this episode by Charlie Haden & Hank Jones, Sergei Stern, and BenSound.com. Theme music by Kara Square.

The late August Wilson wrote ten plays as part of his celebrated Century Cycle, completing one play for each decade of the twentieth century, all but one of them set in the same neighborhood in Pittsburg, each tackling that decade’s most significant challenges for the African-American families who lived, loved, struggled and eventually died there. Just attempting such a thing was an undertaking unparalleled in the history of American playwriting, and that the resulting works were uniformly excellent—six of them nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, two of them winning it—is extraordinary. Which brings us to ‘Gem of the Ocean’—running through February 14 at Marin Theatre Company. Wilson’s penultimate play, ‘Gem of the Ocean’ arrived in 2003, two years before he died of cancer. ‘Gem’ marks the chronological beginning of the ten-play cycle, set as it was in 1904. Throughout Wilson’s previous plays, there was the occasional reference to a woman named Aunt Ester, a kind of spiritual guide and protector whose doors were always open to anyone in need. ‘Gem of the Ocean’ was the play that finally gave us Aunt Ester in all her glory. She was worth the wait. Though set in the early 1900’s, there is a specific timelessness to this play, sewn into the script like the old quilts and collages that Wilson often said were the inspiration for his work. Like all of his works, Gem of the Ocean blends lush historical detail and remarkably well-drawn characters into a plot that unfolds like an old roll of fabric. In Daniel Alexander Jones’ sometimes baffling, but still emotionally rich staging, Wilson’s engaging script is embellished with a kind of hand-clapping, finger-snapping, sign-language-style choreography that resembles dance, but stops short of having his characters actually burst into ballet or the soft shoe. It’s a technique Jones calls “theatrical jazz,” a style the young New York-based director has become known and celebrated for. Whether the play calls for such initially distracting ornamentations, whether or not the story is actually strengthened by this distinctively, almost ritualistically musical style of performance, is ultimately beside the point. ‘Gem,’ after all, is the most mystical and “ritualistic” of Wilson’s works, and Jones’ aesthetic eventually starts to make a kind of otherworldly sense. There is a lightness and playfulness to the entire production, which makes it stand out from other productions of ‘Gem’ that I’ve seen, and the sense of determined hopefulness and ragged joy that rises from the story’s accumulating tragedies at times feels almost revolutionary. The story, enacted by a tremendously strong cast, follows a group of lost, wounded souls who’ve found a refuge in the home of Aunt Ester, played with brilliant, buoyant groundedness by Margo Hall. Ester, who claims to be 285 years old—born the year slaves first arrived in the New World—serves as the personification of her people’s collective memory of slavery. Throughout the 2-1/2 hour play, Ester welcomes a guilt-ridden newcomer named Citizen Barlow (played with roiling emotions by Namir Smallwood), and ushers him through a series of initiations that include a trance-like guided visualization to a city of bones at the bottom of the sea. Though there are challenges along the way, in this bold, impeccably acted reinterpretation of an American masterpiece, the audience travels right along with Citizen Barlow, all of us taking a similar journey, one that is as mysterious and strange as it is illuminating, devastating and beautiful. ‘Gem of the Ocean’ runs Tuesday–Sunday through February 14 at Marin Theatre Company. www.marintheatre.org

Many scholars consider August Wilson to be the premier American playwright of the 20th Century. Alan Nadel is surely one of their number. In the early 1990s, he focused our attention on Wilson’s plays in the outstanding collection of essays May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson (University of Iowa Press, 1993). Since the publication of that work, Wilson completed his magnum opus–a ten-play cycle–shortly before his death in 2005. So now Nadel has followed up his first essay collection on Wilson with a second: August Wilson: Completing the Twentieth-Century Cycle (University of Iowa Press, 2010). This volume, as Nadel asserts, is for the trained cultural critic and everyday reader. My opinion is that the volume, like the first one, is centrally important to literary critics, performance scholars, and your average serious theatre goer, as well as to anyone interested in 20th-Century American culture. Listen to the interview, read the book, and share your thoughts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many scholars consider August Wilson to be the premier American playwright of the 20th Century. Alan Nadel is surely one of their number. In the early 1990s, he focused our attention on Wilson’s plays in the outstanding collection of essays May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson (University of Iowa Press, 1993). Since the publication of that work, Wilson completed his magnum opus–a ten-play cycle–shortly before his death in 2005. So now Nadel has followed up his first essay collection on Wilson with a second: August Wilson: Completing the Twentieth-Century Cycle (University of Iowa Press, 2010). This volume, as Nadel asserts, is for the trained cultural critic and everyday reader. My opinion is that the volume, like the first one, is centrally important to literary critics, performance scholars, and your average serious theatre goer, as well as to anyone interested in 20th-Century American culture. Listen to the interview, read the book, and share your thoughts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many scholars consider August Wilson to be the premier American playwright of the 20th Century. Alan Nadel is surely one of their number. In the early 1990s, he focused our attention on Wilson’s plays in the outstanding collection of essays May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson (University of Iowa Press, 1993). Since the publication of that work, Wilson completed his magnum opus–a ten-play cycle–shortly before his death in 2005. So now Nadel has followed up his first essay collection on Wilson with a second: August Wilson: Completing the Twentieth-Century Cycle (University of Iowa Press, 2010). This volume, as Nadel asserts, is for the trained cultural critic and everyday reader. My opinion is that the volume, like the first one, is centrally important to literary critics, performance scholars, and your average serious theatre goer, as well as to anyone interested in 20th-Century American culture. Listen to the interview, read the book, and share your thoughts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many scholars consider August Wilson to be the premier American playwright of the 20th Century. Alan Nadel is surely one of their number. In the early 1990s, he focused our attention on Wilson’s plays in the outstanding collection of essays May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson (University of Iowa Press, 1993). Since the publication of that work, Wilson completed his magnum opus–a ten-play cycle–shortly before his death in 2005. So now Nadel has followed up his first essay collection on Wilson with a second: August Wilson: Completing the Twentieth-Century Cycle (University of Iowa Press, 2010). This volume, as Nadel asserts, is for the trained cultural critic and everyday reader. My opinion is that the volume, like the first one, is centrally important to literary critics, performance scholars, and your average serious theatre goer, as well as to anyone interested in 20th-Century American culture. Listen to the interview, read the book, and share your thoughts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many scholars consider August Wilson to be the premier American playwright of the 20th Century. Alan Nadel is surely one of their number. In the early 1990s, he focused our attention on Wilson's plays in the outstanding collection of essays May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson (University of Iowa Press, 1993). Since the publication of that work, Wilson completed his magnum opus–a ten-play cycle–shortly before his death in 2005. So now Nadel has followed up his first essay collection on Wilson with a second: August Wilson: Completing the Twentieth-Century Cycle (University of Iowa Press, 2010). This volume, as Nadel asserts, is for the trained cultural critic and everyday reader. My opinion is that the volume, like the first one, is centrally important to literary critics, performance scholars, and your average serious theatre goer, as well as to anyone interested in 20th-Century American culture. Listen to the interview, read the book, and share your thoughts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies