The Piano Lesson

August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, the fourth in The Pittsburgh Cycle.

Story:

It is 1936, and Boy Willie arrives in Pittsburgh from the South in a battered truck loaded with watermelons to sell. He has an opportunity to buy some land down home, but he has to come up with the money right quick. He wants to sell an old piano that has been in his family for generations, but he shares ownership with his sister and it sits in her living room. She has already rejected several offers because the antique piano is covered with incredible carvings detailing the family’s rise from slavery. Boy Willie tries to persuade his stubborn sister that the past is past, but she is more formidable than he anticipated.

Playwright
August Wilson

Books

Play Script

Videos

Television Version DVD

Merchandise

2023 Tony Awards

Best Revival of a Play
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play - Samuel L. Jackson

2023 Drama Desk Award Nominations

Outstanding Revival of a Play
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play - Danielle Brooks
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play - Ray Fisher
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play
Outstanding Wig and Hair

2023 Drama League Award Nominations

Outstanding Revival of a Play
Distinguished Performance Award - Danielle Brooks
Distinguished Performance Award - John David Washington

2023 Outer Critics Cirlce Award Nominations

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play - Danielle Brooks
Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play - Michael Potts

2023 Theatre World Awards

Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance - John David Washington

2013 Drama League Award Nominations

Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play
Distinguished Performance Award - Brandon J. Dirden
Distinguished Performance Award - Roslyn Ruff

2013 Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations

Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway)

2013 Drama Desk Award Nominations

Outstanding Revival of a Play
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play - Chuck Cooper
Outstanding Director of a Play

2013 Theatre World Award Nominations

Best Debut Performance - Brandon J. Dirden

1990 Pulitzer Prize Nominations

Pulitzer Prize for Drama

1990 Tony Award Nominations

Best Play

1990 Drama Desk Award Nominations

Outstanding Play

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