Until August Wilson

I had given up on plays until August Wilson. Much of my social life for decades had included attending plays. New Stage Theater in Jackson. Several theaters in Memphis. At one point, during a performance, I thought, What are you doing here? The play was not engaging. I was not having a good time.

Until I discovered August Wilson.

I would never have discovered August Wilson without Hattiloo Theater. Hattiloo Theater is a major Black repertory theater located in Memphis. Ekundayo Bandele established Hattiloo in the Edge neighborhood years ago. Our first Hattiloo plays were in the Edge facility, a small venue with a big presence. (When Ek decided to move the productions to a modern new space in Midtown, I was afraid the change would ruin the ambience; it didn’t.) There we saw our first August Wilson play. I was hooked.

August Wilson was born in Pittsburgh, and his main opus is an ode to his hometown, The Pittsburgh Cycle. Two of the ten plays won Pulitzers. Three of the plays have been made into movies (Fences, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and The Piano Lesson.) My favorite Wilson play was my first, Two Trains Running—not just because Wilson named one of his characters Memphis. 🙂 The play is so real, and the lack of that was what had begun to turn me off to plays, their theatricality (I know, I know.) My husband and I still recite the “Gimme my ham!” line from the Two Trains.

As long as we’re talking famous Black Americans, we can add Ekundayo to the list. He is a brilliant playwright, actor, visionary, and businessman. And he’s in Memphis. One day, I expect him to have an opus centered around Memphis that is as famous as August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle .