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The Piano Lesson

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Winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, August Wilson's sensitive story of a family's struggle to reconcile the past with the present centers around the carved piano which dominates the living room of Doaker Charles and his niece Berniece. The legs of the piano are carved with faces of their slave ancestors, carvings made by a distant relation who was owned by the Sutter family and working on their farm in Mississippi before Emancipation. Berniece's brother Boy Willie, recently released from a prison farm and penitentiary, has come to Pittsburgh with his friend Lymon, determined to sell this ancient piano in which he claims half-ownership. His arguments with Berniece conjure up the ghost of Sutter, who calls out Boy Willie's name.

The struggle of Boy Willie and Berniece over possession of the piano gradually broadens as they reveal the past, incorporating vivid pictures of the family's tenuous survival from slavery to the present. A dozen or more of the white men who have been most abusive over the generations have met their deaths by "falling" into wells, crimes of revenge attributed to the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog. These ghosts are supposedly the ghosts of five black men burned to death in a boxcar by Sutter after his carved piano, the one in Berniece's living room, was stolen. The most recent Mr. Sutter "fell" into a well and died three weeks ago, and Berniece believes that Boy Willie may have had a hand in his death.

The play's success rests on the well-developed family relationships and their interactions on stage, as they reflect the legacy of slavery and its aftermath. Berniece wants the piano because the blood of her family has been worked into its wood--it represents her heritage. She and Doaker have learned a whole new culture of survival through their move to the city, but they do not want to forget the past. Boy Willie, by contrast, wants to sell the piano in order to buy land for his future, remarking, "I got to mark my passing on the road. Just like you write on a tree, 'Boy Willie was here.'" He, however, still focuses on vengeance--righting past wrongs. The tension between these viewpoints provides the drama and, in a powerful concluding scene, conveys the message of this play, ultimately a "piano lesson." Mary Whipple

August Wilson is the greatest American playwright. Not the greatest living American playwright, but the greatest, period. His best plays stand comparison with the best work of Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams. No American playwright has produced such a consistent body of work, and no American playwright has attempted a cycle with the scope and ambition of his series of plays. Wilson's subject is the Great Migration, the story of the African-Americans who emigrated from the southern states to the cities of the industrial North and their slow construction of satisfactory lives in the difficult and changing world of 20th century America. Wilson has written 10 plays on this subject, one for each decade of the 20th century, amounting to a fictional history of African-Americans in the urban North. This is, however, history from below. Wilson's heroes are garbagemen, short-order cooks, day laborers, self-taught musicians, and street vendors. One of his great gifts is his ability to use common speech in a way that is consistently interesting, frequently eloquent, and often powerful. He gives poetic voice to people usually regarded as inarticulate and invests ordinary struggles with real but not exaggerated significance. The African-Americans of Wilson's plays are a doubly uprooted people. Uprooted initially by the grievous trauma of slavery that sundered their connection with their native traditions, the emigrants fleeing the Jim Crow south and its brutal racism are uprooted also from their homes, families, and the traditions developed in the aftermath of slavery.
Wilson's overall story is the reconstruction of African-American identity and family life in the cities of the North over the course of the 20th century. Wilson's plays often feature protagonists whose sense of identity and families have been damaged greatly by the oppressions of racism and the atomizing effects of the industrial economy of the North. Over the course of the cycle, Wilson shows characters re-establishing a sense of connection with their ancestors, even back to Africa, and gradually developing the family ties to sustain them. Wilson repeatedly uses supernatural elements in his work, particularly as a device to advance his theme of the importance of developing a sense of historic connection with ancestors, including those originally abducted from Africa. This could easily be hokey, but his matter of fact use of these elements is very effective. Another recurring theme is the importance of music, particularly the Blues tradition developed by African-American musicians, which he sees as a vital and creative force in African-American life, often carrying truths across generations. Some of the most affecting parts of Wilson's work are his demonstrations of the direct and indirect destructive effects of American racism on family life. Even more powerful are those scenes in which his characters overcome these obstacles to reaffirm family connections.
Not all of Wilson's plays are outstanding, but all are at least very good. Readers will differ on their favorites. In my opinion, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Fences, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom are outstanding. The rest vary from excellent (The Piano Lession) to the very good. Cumulatively, they are a really impressive achievement. Mention must be made of the fact that Wilson has been aided by outstanding collaborators. Wilson's plays usually go through a series of versions before the final version emerges. Wilson has had the benefit of working with unusually talented directors, notably the gifted Lloyd Richards, who was responsible in large measure for recognizing Wilson's talent. Wilson has benefited also from the existence of a whole generation of remarkably talented African-American actors. These people made it possible for Wilson to realize his vision. We have all been the beneficiaries of the work of Wilson and his collaborators.

This can be an enjoyable read for anyone. Wilson's language and dialogue is beautiful. Descriptions of the piano are gorgeous and Wilson does a good job of making an inanimate object seem almost mystical. This is a play that should be read by everyone, regardless of race. It deals with many racial issues, however the main conflict between Boy Willie and Berniece is something that anyone can have an opinion on. I personally thought that both Boy Willie and Berniece had good points and one could sympathize with either of them, but their arguments tend to hide the truth to both of them, and possibly to the audience. The end of the play is a revelation to them both, and can be to the reader as well. Regardless of your background, you will enjoy this play as it deals with the importance of hard work and the betterment of one's life, contrasted with the significance of history and ancestry - issues that anyone can relate to.

This is a PLAY to be read aloud! The power and brilliance is not only in the theme but in the pacing and rhythm of the dialogue. The character of Boy Willie comes to life when his words are spoken. On the page, he "speaks" rapidly and, sometimes, in an exuberant jumble of passion, rage, and confusion -- as he tries to convince his sister to sell the family piano so he seek his dream. When spoken, Boy Willie is an exciting man, so caught up with his one chance for success, that his words just flow. August Wilson is my favorite playwrite, too. I heed the advice from one of my teachers. A play is NOT a play until read aloud. Take a risk! Even if you are alone, read The Piano Lesson aloud. You won't sound silly. Act out all the parts. Don't deny yourself this masterpiece!

"The Piano Lesson" (1990) by the late August Wilson is part of his ten-play series, the Pittsburg Cycle or the Century Cycle. It focuses on a frequent literary device--a family feud over money, land, or personal property. In this case it's a piano that has carved into its surface a history of the family. Berniece and her brother Boy Willie are battling over possession of the piano. Boy Willie with his buddy, ne'er-do-well Lymon, has brought a truckload of watermelons up from the South to Pittsburgh to peddle, hoping to sell them and also sell the family piano so he can buy a spread of land down South.
This story takes place in the 1930's when the blacks are still living in a South where white people oppressed blacks and where no law existed to intervene for blacks. Boy Willie wants a white man's land, Sutter's spread. Sutter fell down a well, and he may or may not have been assisted in that fall by Boy Willie.
Berniece and her daughter live with her uncle Doaker, a cook for the railroad. He is the voice of reason. She is seeing Avery who wants to set up a church and is the voice of religion and prophecy. Various characters such as Wining Boy play the piano briefly and there are occasional songs. The ghost of Sutter is present at times in the play, and later his spirit plays a pivotal role. As the action of the play continues, all sorts of family memories and history are revealed.
August Wilson was a risk-taker who asked audiences to come along with him as he dealt with questions of ownership, possession, and family disputes while at the same time presenting a very accessible story with flashes of humor, large doses of humanity, and a dramatic structure with a beginning, middle and end. It's about as far from Absurdist theater as you can get.
Wilson created real people in a believable setting. There's a vibrance and a vitality to the people and a sound dramatic structure with a good set-up, development and climax. They are not phony people or cardboard figures. There's a touching homey quality to the play.
One of my favorite haunts in Manhattan is the Edison Café, a diner-type restaurant off the lobby in the Edison Hotel on 47th Street. Fondly known as the Polish Tea Room by its habitués, this was where Wilson was reputed to have written notes for three of his plays on restaurant napkins.

As the last living memory of American slavery gives way to the hurlyburly of the Twentieth Century, the Charles family piano straddles the line between the two. Not just a musical instrument, it's a work of visual art. The Charles family must resolve whether it belongs to them, a monument to loved ones long gone, or whether its monetary value can pave the way to a productive future of ownership on the land where they once were slaves.

The fourth play in Wilson's "Century Cycle," and the fifth written, turns on the question of whether it is nobler to honor the past or look to the future. As we expect from a writer of Wilson's caliber, "The Piano Lesson" is full of family tension, careful nuance, buried secrets, and stirring revelations. The dialog also sings with the stunning passion of African American folk language, in a music comparable to David Mamet, but distinctively Wilson's own.

My problem with the play is the second act. Act One is unified, tightly structured, and although it appears slow moving, every line of dialog is packed with insight. But Act Two breaks down into a number of short scenes, looser in structure, at least one of which (II.iv) could probably be removed without damaging the play. And the conclusion is too abrupt. The threads suddenly wrap up very neatly in a way that feels sudden and unearned.

The TCG hardback includes an introduction by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. She makes some interesting points about the difference between reading a play as literature, and seeing it performed on the stage. She's right to say that details which can only be alluded to onstage--such as Lymon's truck or Sutter's ghost--become more real when read off the page. Concise and insightful, Morrison's intro is almost as worth a read as the play itself.

This play is of value both as a part of Wilson's magnum opus and as a literary gem in its own right. But that value is packed almost entirely into Act One. I recommend reading this play as a literary gem and as a great piece of American culture. But be aware that, like most literature, it is imperfect, and the greatness that creates the play is what makes its shortcomings all the more visible.

August Wilson's subtly brilliant work examines the manner in which an African-American family copes with its past. The central character of the play--the piano--is a pictoral history of the family, carved by a woodcarving ancestor from the families slavery days. The fascinating confrontation between Berniece, who cherishes the piano, and Boy Willie, who wishes to sell the piano and use the profit to buy the land their family tilled as slaves, gives the reader a thought-provoking dilemma. Should one cling to the past or use it to make one's future?

Although it seems Berniece is right, there is something in Boy Willie's exuberant pursuit of the American dream that makes the reader respect and enjoy his character, despite his imperfections. Mr. Wilson succeeds in creating characters with virtues, flaws and noble goals with which we can relate.

Trumancaro@aol.com

In August Wilson's play, "The Piano Lesson", there are some good points and there are some bad points, but mostly boring points. The story just did not seem to be able to keep my attention.
I will discuss the parts that i thought were good first. I thought that August Wilson described the piano and its carvings on it extremely beautifully. The way he portrays the family's heritage within the piano is fantastic. What i especially loved was the symbolism of the stealing of the piano. He had made it seem like that if Sutter still had the piano, that the Charles family would still be bound to him. But on INDEPENDENCE DAY(!) they stole the piano from him, thus symbolically liberating the family. The stealing of the piano gives an extra significance for the Charles family to July fourth.
The beginning and the end of the play were very interesting. They were easily the most exciting parts of the book. I found it interesting to find out about the history of the family and how the piano was sacred to them. The end surprised me. I never expected Willie to get into a fight with the ghost of Sutter.
Now for the boring parts. Well, saying that the beginning and the end of the play were the most exciting, actually isn't saying a whole lot. The book just could not hold my attention at all. The only interesting points were the first and last ten pages. The 80 pages in the middle all seemed to have the same theme. That theme was that Willie and Berniece would get into an argument over the piano, then a few pages down the road it would be the same argument all over again. The other events that occured within the middle of the play seemed very insignificant. Lymon seemed to me like an unimportant character that could have been eliminated. Grace had no importance at all, but to fill up pages within the book.
"The Piano Lesson" seemed to me to be a very boring book at many points, although it did have its bright spots. This would make a much better short story than a play or a long book.

This literary triumph by August Wilson is an excellent depiction of Black migration to the North in the early 20th century. It accurately portrays the intricacies of Black family life in American post emancipation years and the value placed on providing a better life in the North than was afforded earlier generations down South, while maintaining a sense of family values and cohesiveness. Berniece carries with pride the strong will and sense of propriety she has inherited from her ancestors. So too, does Boy Willie reflect his inherited traits, but rather that brash irresponsibility that comes with youth and, like his father, a burning desire to own something that should belong to him, but has been denied him far too long . . . for Boy Charles--the piano, for Boy Willie--Sutters land, which his ancestors had worked all their lives for the white man.

Each character in this play serves as a reminder of the great variety of skills and talents with which the African slaves were endowed when they were brought to American shores. These talents they perfected in service to owners and masters who enjoyed the material benefits of their labor. Even at the cost of having a family unit torn asunder, try as they may, the masters were never able to take away the only thing the slaves brought over on the slave ships with them . . . these God-given talents. A must read for every African American, lest we forget.

This book by August Wilson is a good description of the Black movement to the North in the early 20th century. It correctly shows the ins and outs of a black family life in America before emancipation years and the value placed on providing a better life in the North than was afforded earlier in generations down South. All this while sticking together and not loosing family values.

Bernice does not forget the pride the strong will along with the sense of propriety she had learned from her ancestors. Boy Willie reflects his inherited traits as well, but has that impatient irresponsibility like every kid. He is like his father in the sense that he has a strong will to own something that he could call his own that he could never do before. For Boy Charles this was the piano, but for Boy Willie it was a place called Sutters land, this is were his ancestors had worked on while the whites had control.

Each character has its own way of showing the great variety of skills and talents which the slaves were capable of when they were brought to America. Even though these masters tried to take away these skill and talents they were incapable of taking away these gods given talents to the African Americans. This is a great book and I recommend it not only to African Americans but to all races. It is a great book to read and has many morals. I recommend this book to everyone because I have enjoyed it greatly.