This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 10, 2013 - The Black Repertory Theatre wound down its 35th season with a booming rendition of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. That play, set in 1920s Chicago, is the third of Wilson's famed Pittsburgh Cycle (and notably the only play of the 10 not set in Pittsburgh). The Black Rep is now ready to pick up where it left off, staging the fourth play in the cycle, the Pulitzer Prize winning The Piano Lesson.
The Piano Lesson is set in late Depression-era Pittsburgh. A piano sits as the focal point of the play, as family members squabble over the future of the sentimentally charged instrument; namely, whether to sell it to buy land or keep it.
Piano is directed by Lorna Littleway, who has directed two Wilson plays at the Black Rep. Tickets are available via the theater's website, listed below.
Also coming up, the stage version of the music video era, MTV-esque film Flashdance arrives at the Peabody, Metro Theater rolls out baseball history with the family-friendly play chronicling the times of Jackie Robinson in Jackie and Me and two local playwrights take the spotlight with First Run Theatre's Evening of Predicaments.