August Wilson is an American playwright awarded for his exemplary work that illuminated the struggles that African Americans faced in the U.S. He wrote the Pittsburgh Cycle of Plays, encompassing ten texts produced during different periods of time explaining the issue of racism in the U.S. Wilson was born in 1945 and died in 2005 due to liver cancer. Wilson is an award-winning American playwright whose work exemplified the blacks’ struggles and joy in the U.S. during the 20th century (Sternlicht, 2015). Socially, Wilson rose from a humble socioeconomic family in Pittsburgh, born to Kittel Frederick, who was an immigrant from Germany and a baker, and Daisy Wilson, a black woman who was a cleaner. Wilson found the school environment hectic since he was often racially bullied in one school, bored in another, and subsequently accused of cheating in the third (Sternlicht, 2015). Therefore, August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle of Plays discusses the 20th century ordeal that the blacks went through in the U.S., urging the whites to embrace equality.
Significantly, Wilson’s series of plays are equally called the Century Cycle. The cycle contains ten texts, each is written and established in a different decade. According to Rawson (2019), each of the plays aims at sketching the blacks’ experience and struggles in the 20th century, raising awareness through theater. In other words, the theaters acted as a form of poetry, expressing and illustrating the everyday language and lives of the blacks in the U.S. Connectedly, it is worth noting that Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle of plays critically presents a clear glimpse regarding the challenges which African Americans were experiencing in different parts of the U.S.
Wilson published the plays in different seasons with the aim of capturing the social and racial occurrences in the respective eras. The ten works include “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Jitney,” “The Piano Lesson,” “King Hedley II,” “Fences,” “Two Trains Running,” “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” “Germ of the Ocean,” “Seven Guitars,” and “Radio Golf” (Mashaiekhy & Pishkar, 2018). The Goodman Theatre is the first theater known to establish the ten-play cycle, between 1986 to 2007 (Mashaiekhy & Pishkar, 2018). “Gem of the Ocean” and “Seven Guitars” were considered to be the world premieres. Moreover, the entire ten-play cycle production between the years 1990 to 2009 was under the management of Hicks Israel (Mashaiekhy & Pishkar, 2018). Subsequently, Geva Theater Center produced the ten plays in decade order between 2007 to 2011 (Mashaiekhy & Pishkar, 2018). Therefore, Wilson’s Pittsburgh presents ten plays that develop different occurrences in society.
Wilson’s plays present a comprehensive understanding of the whites that what is affecting them is the same issues affecting the black, hence, there is no need for racial biases. Cole (2017) opines that humans are equal and the surrounding environment dictates the challenges that they face regardless of their race. For instance, in the play “Fences,” the audience sees the garbageman, who is not considered prominent in the community, despite people seeing him daily. The garbageman symbolizes the people that perform exemplary duties but are less appreciated, like the blacks. By focusing on Troy, it becomes eminent to the natives that humans are engulfed by similar challenges of love, duty, betrayal, beauty, and honor (Wilson, 1983). Interpretatively, recognizing that the struggles are an equal part of the garbageman’s life as it is to the whites, it triggers and affects the natives’ perceptions regarding the way they deal with African Americans in their lives. Therefore, the ten plays develop the virtue that all humans are the same despite their race since they are often affected by similar problems.
In conclusion, it is paramount to note that August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle of plays gives the whites a different analogy to relate with the African Americans. The ten texts urge human beings to live a peaceful life, whereby they care about one another despite having a diverse ethnic or racial framework. Above all, Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycles of plays urges the audience to focus on specific challenges affecting their lives instead of developing a hatred for one another because of their personal and cultural backgrounds.
References
Cole, M. (Ed.). (2017). Education, equality and human rights: issues of gender, ‘race’, sexuality, disability and social class. Routledge.
Mashaiekhy, M., & Pishkar, K. (2018). The absurdity of Wilson’s Female characters’ survival, success, spirituality, and their siren position. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 5(4), pp. 210-223. Web.
Rawson, C. (2019). August Wilson estate, Pittsburgh post-gazette, and August Wilson house establish August Wilson century cycle awards. August Wilson Journal, (1), p. 1.
Sternlicht, S. (2015). August Wilson’s twentieth-century cycle plays: A reader’s companion. Texas Tech University Press.
Wilson, A. (1983). Fences. Penguin Books. pp. 1270-1331.