RIP August Wilson, Black Playwright

[StarFish106]

On Friday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspapers shocked theater fans by reporting that one of the country's greatest playwrights, Pittsburgh native and Seattle resident August Wilson, 60, had advanced liver cancer.



A representative for Wilson, whose cycle of plays tracing the experiences of black Americans through the 20th century includes Pulitzer Prize winners Fences and The Piano Lesson and last season's Tony Award nominee Gem of the Ocean, said: "The prognosis is serious, but Mr. Wilson is dealing with the matter head-on. Those close to Mr. Wilson remain optimistic."


But Wilson, who is married to Constanza Romero and has a 7-year-old daughter, Azula Carmen, told the Post-Gazette that doctors had given him only a few months to live. He added: "I've lived a blessed life. I'm ready."


This did not come as news to Gordon Davidson, outgoing artistic director of Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum. Wilson knew of his condition when Radio Golf, the final play of his cycle, transferred to the Taper, where it is running through Sept. 18. "He asked for privacy," Davidson says. "But he has been remarkable, determined to do the work. He's even working on a new set of notes, to put things in before we close."


James Bundy, artistic director of the Yale Repertory Theatre, where Golf had its world premiere last April, also knew Wilson was ill. "It's shocking. August is so full of life and energy and creativity and joy."


The off-Broadway Signature Theatre had been set to dedicate its 2006-07 season to Wilson's work. In a statement, Signature founding artistic director James Houghton said the company's "thoughts and prayers are with (Wilson) and his family. ... We remain fully committed to working with August on crafting a season plan that will celebrate his extraordinary contribution to the American theater."


That contribution includes the dramas Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Jitney and King Hedley II.


In a USA TODAY interview last spring, Wilson, who started as a poet, spoke of working on his first comic play and a novel, as well as a film version of Fences.


Davidson says Wilson remains "witty and philosophical in moments. In spite of what he's going through, he still seems focused on the work and excited about it. He wants to write more, and if he has the strength, I'm sure he will."

[kiml122]

I heard this last week on the radio...so sad

[CrimsonTide4]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9570391/

Playwright August Wilson dies at 60
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author died Sunday of liver cancer

Updated: 6:36 p.m. ET Oct. 2, 2005
NEW YORK - Playwright August Wilson, whose epic 10-play cycle chronicling the black experience in 20th-century America included such landmark dramas as “Fences” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” died Sunday of liver cancer, a family spokeswoman said. He was 60.

Wilson died at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, surrounded by his family, said Dena Levitin, Wilson’s personal assistant. The playwright had disclosed in late August that his illness was inoperable and he had only a few months to live.

His plays were big, often sprawling and poetic, dealing primarily with the effects of slavery on succeeding generations of black Americans: from turn-of-century characters who could remember the Civil War to a prosperous middle class at the end of the century who had forgotten the past.

Wilson’s astonishing creation, which took more than 20 years to complete, was remarkable not only for his commitment to a certain structure — one play for each decade — but for the quality of the writing. It was a unique achievement in American drama. Not even Eugene O’Neill, who authored the masterpiece “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” accomplished such a monumental effort.

During that time, Wilson received the best-play Tony Award for “Fences,” plus best-play Tony nominations for six of his other plays, the Pulitzer Prize for both “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson,” and a record seven New York Drama Critics’ Circle prizes.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[ladygreek]

Although I have been expecting this, it still hurts.

[Eclipse]

Originally posted by ladygreek
Although I have been expecting this, it still hurts.

Ladygreek I saw my first August Wilson play at Punumbra (sp?) theater in Saint Paul. He was actually in town (although I don't think he was living in MN at the time any more) He was certainly a national treasure and told such rich stories!

[StarFish106]

Aw that is a shame. He was my commencement speaker at Graduation. His talent will surely be missed.

[nikki1920]

I read "The Piano Lesson" in high school. I liked it, it was much more relatable than Beowulf.

May he rest in peace.

[ladygreek]

Originally posted by Eclipse
Ladygreek I saw my first August Wilson play at Punumbra (sp?) theater in Saint Paul. He was actually in town (although I don't think he was living in MN at the time any more) He was certainly a national treasure and told such rich stories!

Almost right--Penumbra. Yes, he lived here from 1978-1990 and wrote many of his plays here. He would come back a lot to the venue that "really made him a playwright." He still has many good friends here.