1985: New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

1986: Whiting Award for Drama

1987: Pulitzer Prize for Drama – Fences

1987: Tony Award for Best Play – Fences

1987: Outer Critics Circle Award – Fences

1987: Artist of the Year by Chicago Tribune

1988: Literary Lion Award from the New York Public Library

1988: New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play – Joe Turner's Come and Gone

1990: Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts and Distinguished Pennsylvania Artists

1990: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play – The Piano Lesson

1990: New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play – The Piano Lesson

1990: Pulitzer Prize for Drama – The Piano Lesson

1991: Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame award

1991: St Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates

1992: American Theatre Critics' Association Award – Two Trains Running

1992: New York Drama Critics Circle Citation for Best American Play – Two Trains Running

1992: Clarence Muse Award

1996: New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play – Seven Guitars

1999: National Humanities Medal

2000: New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play – Jitney

2000: Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play – Jitney

2002: Olivier Award for Best new Play – Jitney

2004: The 10th Annual Heinz Award in Arts and Humanities

2004: The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Freedom of Speech Award

2005: Make Shift Award at the U.S. Confederation of Play Writers

2006: American Theatre Hall of Fame

2017: Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play – Jitney

Sample Activity

In Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, it talks about the roles of being in a group/band and the dynamics of working together especially the roles of gender. This sample activity would be a spectrum of teenagers in a room with 3 huge squares, each of them will be an answer to a certain question or opinion that will be asked to the students. It goes from Agree, Disagree and No Answer. We will then get into discussion as to why they chose their answer after each question or opinion.

Example questions:

1. When you are in a group/band, everybody should make the choice of who is who. Such as who wants to be the leader? Rather than calling out "I will be the leader of the group!" with no vote or say with the rest of the members of the group.

2. Do you believe that each member should get the same credit for their work or should the leader get the most credit?

3. Do you believe that an all gender group/band get along well?

4. Do you think men and women get along working together in band/group?

5. Should each member be individual thinkers?

6. Do you think that each gender plays the leadership role differently or the same? For example, do girls play the leadership role better then men.

7. Do you think being a leader matters by race and gender?

8. If two or more members of a band/group is not getting getting along do you think it is important for you to help?

Discussion Questions

1. Ma and Levee disagree on the arrangement of a song. What audience are they both trying to attract?

2. Why is Ma Rainey so important to the band and what do white producers admire about her? What does this say about African American women during this time?

3. What elements of black culture does Wilson use in the play?

4. Why is the blues an important genre in African American music, and why do you think August Wilson used this genre in this play?

5. How did you feel after the play when Levee decided to take matters into his own hands?

6. What song do you think would have played better, Ma Rainey's or Levee's?

7. Who's side are you on, Ma Rainey's or Levee's?

8. Do you think this certain song in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom would have meaning now in this modern time? If yes, which version of the song would matter the most and if not, why do you think so?

Fences

Synopsis

Fences takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1957. It follows the story of Troy Maxon, a 53-year-old man who is struggling to provide for his wife and son. Troy used to be an amazing baseball player, but was unable to make it to the professional league due to the color of his skin. Troy settles down and becomes a trash collector, and lives a life of regret, unable to play baseball. Upset over his missed opportunity, Troy creates conflict in his family when he discourages his son’s dream of becoming a football player, now that they accept people of color.

Where can this play be used:

This play can be used to discuss issues relating to racism in sports and the struggles of African Americans who were fighting for equality. It can be used to demonstrate how parents sometimes discourage their children from pursuing a dream, where the parent did not achieve success, causing a strained relationship with their child. It also can be used in educational settings for teenagers and young adults who struggle to have a relationship with their parents, trying to earn their respect and love, as they try to find their own paths.

The Piano Lesson

Synopsis

The Piano Lesson is set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of The Great Depression. The story follows the lives of the Charles family. It mainly focuses on the arguments between a brother and a sister who have different ideas on what they want to do with the piano that Charles Doaker owns. Boy Willie, the brother, who is a sharecropper, wants to the sell the piano to buy land called Sutter’s Land, where his ancestors were once slaves. Berniece, the sister, wants to keep the piano, which shows the carved faces of their great grandfather’s wife and son during the days of them being slaves. Berniece convinces her brother, Boy Willie, that it is the only item left to remember of their ancestors when they were slaves, but Boy Willie wants to create a future for his ancestors and achieve a goal their ancestors could not have.

Where can this play be used:

This play can be used in an educational setting to discuss gender identity, and the role of women in the household. It can also be used to demonstrate the bonds of African American families, and the deep connections they have to their ancestors. It can be used as a source to show the different perspectives in a family unit when discussing items that are important to their heritage.

Gem of the Ocean

Joe Turner's Come & Gone

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

The Piano Lesson

Seven Guitars

Fences

Two Trains Running

Jitney

King Hedley II

Radio Golf

Recycle

Black Bart and the Sacred Hills

Fullerton Street

The Homecoming

The Coldest Day of the Year

How I Learned What I Learned

Samuel French - August Wilson

Playbill - August Wilson

IMDB - August Wilson

The New York Times - What August Wilson Means Now

The New York Times - August Wilson on Broadway: A History

The New York Times - At War With Ghosts and History

The New York Times - August Wilson's Pittsburgh

Abbotson, S. (2000). From Jug Band to Dixieland: The Musical Development behind August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Modern Drama, 43(1), 100-109.

Alexandre, S. (2009). The Things What Happened with Our Family Property and Inheritance in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson. Modern Drama, 52(1), 73-98.

Abbotson, S. C. (2000). What Does August Wilson Teach in The Piano Lesson?: The Place of the Past and Why Boy Willie Knows More Than Berniece. Journal of American Drama and Theatre, 12(1), 83-101.

Alwaysmind, B. (2014, December 22). August Wilson with Bill Moyers. Retrieved October 16, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YctW96OG364

Critic, C. M. (2016, September 12). Resilience and dignity are the rich, bluesy music of 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'. Retrieved October 16, 2017, from http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-ma-rainey-review-20160912-snap-story.html

McKelly, J. C. (2002). The Marketability of Black Culture. H. Bloom (Ed.), Comprehensive Research and Study Guide Bloom's Major Dramatists, Broomall, PA: Chelsea House, p. 20.

McKelly, J. C. (2002). The Marketability of Black Culture. H. Bloom (Ed.), Comprehensive Research and Study Guide Bloom's Major Dramatists, Broomall, PA: Chelsea House, p. 21.

Morales, M. (1994). Ghosts on the Piano: August Wilson and the Representation of Black American History. In A. Nadel (Ed.), May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, p. 106.

Nadel, A. (2007). Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: Cutting the Historical Record, Dramatizing A Blues CD. C. Bigsby (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to August Wilson Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, p. 103.

Pereira, K. (2002). The Collision of Blues and Swing. H. Bloom (Ed.), Comprehensive Research and Study Guide Bloom's Major Dramatists, Broomall, PA: Chelsea House, p. 26.

Pereira, K. (2007). Music and Mythology in August Wilson's Plays. C. Bigsby (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to August Wilson, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, p. 65.

Pereira, K. (2007). Music and Mythology in August Wilson's Plays. C. Bigsby (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to August Wilson, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, p. 66.

Pereira, K. (2007). Music and Mythology in August Wilson's Plays. C. Bigsby (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to August Wilson, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, p. 68.

Tyndall, P. C. (2006). Celebrating African-American Music and Spirituality in August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and The Piano Lesson. Baylor Journal of Theatre and Performance, 3(1), 57-72.

Wilson, A. (2016). Fences: A Play. NY, NY: Plume, an imprint of Penguin Radom House LLC.

Wilson, A. (1985). Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: A Play. New York: New American Library.

Wilson, A. (2013). The Piano Lesson. New York: Penguin Group.

Web page compiled by Devan Manning (2017)