On the heels of critically acclaimed A Noise Within productions of Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars, Radio Golf and King Hedley II, director Gregg T. Daniel returns to direct August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson: the fourth play in Wilson’s extraordinary 10-play “American Century Cycle”; the second to win a Pulitzer Prize; and the fifth in A Noise Within’s commitment to stage them all. Performances begin Oct. 19 and continue at the company’s Pasadena home through Nov. 10.
Written in Wilson’s always enthralling prose, The Piano Lesson weaves together elements of history and spirituality to create a haunting story about reckoning with a complicated past. In 1936 post-Depression Pittsburgh, Berniece (Nija Okoro) finds herself pitted against her newly arrived brother, Boy Willie (Kai A. Ealy), who is determined to sell a family heirloom: a piano decorated with images of their African ancestors carved by their enslaved grandfather. To Berniece, the piano represents a family legacy that must be preserved. Boy Willie sees it as a means to letting go of the past in order to move forward. As friends and relatives (LeShay Tomlinson Boyce, Jernard Burks, Madison Keffer, Alex Morris, Gerald C. Rivers and Evan Lewis Smith) get caught up in the dispute, a dynamic, gripping portrait emerges of a family haunted by its history and wrestling with its future.
LOCATION:
A Noise Within
3352 E. Foothill Blvd.
Pasadena 91107
TICKETS:
• Tickets start at $51.50 (including fees)
• Student tickets start at $20
• Wednesday, Oct. 16, and Thursday, Oct. 17 (previews): Pay What You Choose starting at $10 (available online beginning the Monday prior to that performance)
• Discounts available for groups of 10 or more
SHOWTIMES, TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION:
https://www.anoisewithin.org/play/the-piano-lesson/
(626) 356-3100