‘The Piano Lesson’ – Play by August Wilson. Directed by Christopher V. Edwards. Scenic Design by Jon Savage; Costume Design by Nia Safarr Banks; Lighting Design by Isaak Olson; Sound Design by James Cannon. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project in partnership with Hibernian Hall. At Hibernian Hall, Boston, through Feb. 23.
By Mike Hoban
As the cold January winds send a chill through the streets of Boston and the change in the nation’s political climate sends shivers through the hearts of our most vulnerable, Actors Shakespeare Project has delivered a masterpiece of a production – just when we need it most. For the third straight year, ASP has staged a selection from August Wilson’s 10-play American Century Cycle about the Black experience in 20th Century America, and while the previous offerings (Seven Guitars in 2023 and King Hedley II last year) were both on my (and most reviewers) annual ‘Best Of’ lists, ASPs The Piano Lesson catapults Wilson’s work into the stratosphere.
It’s 1936, a scant few years after the Great Depression, when Doaker Charles (Jonathan Kitt), a career railroad worker living in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, hears a pre-dawn pounding on the front door of his home. When he opens it, his nephew, Boy Willie (Omar Robinson) bursts in, accompanied by his more reticent business partner, Lymon (Anthony T. Goss). The pair are fresh off a three-year prison farm sentence and have driven up from Mississippi with a truckload of watermelons to sell. The racket by the overly exuberant Boy Willie wakes up his sister Berniece (Jade Guerra), who is clearly less than pleased to see him – with good reason. Not only was the prison time for Boy Willie the natural outcome of his lifetime of shady dealings, but the crime that sent him and Lymon away (for stealing cords of wood) also resulted in the death of her impressionable husband, who was shot by the arresting sheriff.
The money from the watermelon sales is intended to serve a greater purpose: Boy Willie wants to buy 100 acres of farmland from the estate of the recently deceased Sutter, whose family once owned Willie Boy’s ancestors. Further thickening the plot, Sutter died when he “fell” down a well, possibly with the assistance of Boy Willie. In order to buy the farm, he needs more than just the proceeds from the watermelon sales; he also needs his share of the profits from the sale of the family heirloom – the titular piano – that Berniece has no intention of letting go.
This is no ordinary upright piano. On the front and sides of the instrument are ornate wooden carvings of scenes from the lives of the enslaved people for whom it was once traded – their literal ancestors – and the father of Willie Boy and Berniece lost his life, ensuring that the treasure would be kept in the family. For Berniece, it’s the link to the past that defines her life. For Willie, selling the piano means that he can change his life from that of a sharecropper to the owner of the land once worked by his family as enslaved people. The Piano Lesson is an intergenerational family drama with a touch – okay, way more than a touch – of the supernatural, as the ghosts of the past come to settle a score.
Flawlessly directed by ASP’s artistic director Christopher V. Edwards, The Piano Lesson is a three-dimensional portrait of a family coming to grips with not only the effects of systemic racism but also dealing with the predictably unpredictable behavior of the family’s bad apple. Although Wilson’s American Century Cycle explicitly focuses on the Black experience in an industrial Northern city in the mid-1900s, there are universal themes of trauma and healing in his work.
The cast, from the leads to the supporting roles, brilliantly illuminates Wilson’s colloquial prose, so much so that you feel as if you’re eavesdropping on a family squabble. As Doaker, the stabilizing force in the family, Jonathan Kitt brings a gentle grace to the role of peacekeeper between the warring factions. Jade Guerra is an unbending force as Berniece – whether she’s dealing with her reprobate brother or fending off the awkward courtship of Avery, the town’s preacher-to-be – but beautifully expresses her vulnerable side in a touching scene with Lymon. Goss, who won an Eliot Norton award for his portrayal of swaggering blues musician Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton in 2023’s Seven Guitars, does a 180-degree turn as the naïve Lymon. Along with Wining Boy (played with zeal by the actor known as “ranney”), he provides most of the show’s best comic moments, including a scene where Wining Boy sells Lymon a suit that he swears will make him a hit with the ladies. As Avery, Daniel Rios Jr. is convincingly unwavering in his faith even as the family rolls their eyes at his proclamations. Emerson College student Ariel Philips (Berniece’s adorable 12-year-old daughter) and Brittani J. McBride (as Grace, the object of both Willie Boy and Lymon’s affections) provide solid support in limited roles.
However, the driving force behind this production is Robinson, the only cast member to have appeared in all three of ASP’s Wilson series. He tears through the lives of his family (as well as the rest of the world) like a tornado, oblivious to consequences or other people’s feelings, and Robinson does so with such conviction that it’s a joy to watch, even as you loathe him. It’s a tour-de-force performance.
The design team also deserves praise for the success of this terrific production. Jon Savage’s set is simple yet full of details that create an authentic 1930s working-class living space, and the work of sound designer James Cannon and lighting designer Isaak Olson is integral to creating convincing supernatural scenes. Costume designer Nia Safarr Banks also deserves kudos – especially for Lymon’s women-magnet suit.
The play also features some entertaining musical numbers (a ballad by Wining Boy and a spiritual sung by the men). At two-and-a-half hours (with intermission), the play moves briskly, so the action seems to fly by despite some lengthy monologues. It’s early in the theater season, but my guess is that you’re not likely to see a more compelling production this year. Don’t miss it. For more information and tickets, go to: https://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/plays-events/august-wilsons-the-piano-lesson/
