August Wilson: The Writer’s Landscape: The first-ever exhibition dedicated to the life and works of August Wilson is now open! Learn More
1990s

Radio Golf

Broadway Debut
May 8, 2007
Cort Theatre
Performances
64

Radio Golf, set in a storefront redevelopment office, closes the American Century Cycle in true cyclical fashion: at the heart of the conflict lies the proposed demolition of Aunt Ester’s house, first described in Gem of the Ocean.

Using this stirring symbol as a springboard, Wilson writes characters who are caught between a new culture of prosperity and a cultural heritage that has a different set of laws and ethics. In a 2005 interview with American Theatre, Wilson stated that “my idea was that the black middle class seems to be divorcing themselves from the community, making their fortune on their own without recognizing or acknowledging their connection to the larger community…I thought: How do I show that you can go back and that you can’t?” In Radio Golf, he beautifully illustrates this paradox — the paradox of economic and personal consequence — concluding his perspective on the American Black experience in the 20th century. 

Did you Know?

Radio Golf garnered three Tony Awards in 2007. It received the Tony Award for Best play, and Anthony Chisholm and John Earl Jelks both won Best Featured Actor in a Play.

 

In His Own Words

The rules change every day. You got to change with them. After a while the edge starts to get worn. You don’t notice it at first but you’re fraying with it. Oh, no, look...We got a black mayor. We got a black CEO. The head of our department is black. We couldn’t possibly be prejudiced. Got two hundred and fourteen people work in the department and two blacks but we couldn't possibly be race-conscious.” Harmon, Act II, Scene 4

August Wilson:
A Writers Landscape

The August Wilson African American Cultural Center, one of the largest cultural organizations in the country focused exclusively on the African American experience and the arts of the African diaspora, will create The Writer’s Landscape, the first-ever exhibition dedicated to the life and works of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson. Opening in late 2020, the 1,800 square foot permanent exhibition will explore the people and places of Pittsburgh, where Wilson was born and raised, and which had a profound impact on shaping his worldview and inspiring his unprecedented 10-play American Century Cycle.

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