A Noise Within to stage August Wilson’s ‘The Piano Lesson’

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 Saturday and continue at the company’s Pasadena home through Nov. 10. 

Written in Wilson’s 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 finds herself pitted against her newly arrived brother, Boy Willie, 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 get caught up in the dispute, a dynamic, gripping portrait emerges of a family haunted by its history and wrestling with its future.

“How does one accept one’s legacy when it’s filled with hurt and pain?” asks Daniel. “How do you gain a sense of self worth, how do you know who you are, unless you fully inhabit and accept your past, including the pain? This is the battle going on between Berniece and Boy Willie. Like all Wilson’s plays, ‘The Piano Lesson’ is infused with African mysticism and ancestral spirits. It’s also filled with the blues. Berniece must find her song, find her music.”

Taken as a whole, the ten plays in Wilson’s cycle span a period of 90 years, from “Gem of the Ocean” in 1904 to “Radio Golf” in 1997 — with nine of them set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, where Wilson himself grew up. But the plays were not written sequentially and are not connected in the manner of a serial story. Each play stands alone. Many of the characters recur or are referenced in several of the plays, which enriches the audience experience each time a new one is viewed.

“When I’ve guest-directed Wilson plays at other venues, it was always just one production of one play,” Daniel continues. “But A Noise Within has been audacious enough to want to do the entire cycle, which gives me the opportunity to see how these plays are in conversation with one another, how Wilson laid them out. And it’s thrilling to see audiences begin to recognize the overlapping themes and characters. Being able to do these plays back-to-back is one of the greatest gifts I could have as a director. There’s something very exciting about knowing that the next one is coming, and the next one after that, and knowing that our audience is tracking across the entire cycle.”

Performances of The Piano Lesson take place Oct. 19 through Nov. 10 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays 7:30 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees every Saturday and Sunday (no matinee on Saturday, Oct. 19; dark Thursday, Oct. 31). Four preview performances take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13, and at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16; Thursday, Oct. 17; and Friday, Oct. 18.

A one-hour INsiders Discussion Group will take place prior to the matinee on Sunday, Oct. 20 beginning at 12:30 p.m. The performance on Thursday, Oct. 24 is “Black Out Night,” an opportunity for an audience self-identifying as Black to experience the performance together; tickets include a post-show reception (non-Black-identifying patrons are welcome to attend, or to select a different performance). Post–performance conversations with the artists will take place every Friday (except the preview) and on Sunday, Oct. 27. Student matinees are scheduled on select weekdays at 10:30 a.m.; interested educators should email education@anoisewithin.org.

Tickets to “The Piano Lesson” start at $51.50 (including fees). Student tickets start at $20. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more.

A Noise Within is located at 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (626) 356–3100 or go to www.anoisewithin.org.

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