TheAdvocate.com: No wrong notes: ‘The Piano Lesson’ teaches black history and the strength to move forward [August Wilson play by New Venture Theatre]

The Advocate

Robin Miller| romiller@theadvocate.com

Baton Rouge, LA

May 16, 2016

‘The Piano Lesson’

New Venture Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s play

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Claude L. Shaver Theatre, LSU Music and Dramatic Arts Building, Dalrymple Drive

TICKETS/INFO: $25, plus tax. (225) 588-7576 or nvtarts.org

August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” is concentrated in one family, yet it encompasses the black experience in the United States.

“To me, this is one of his most brilliant works,” says Greg Williams, artistic director of New Venture Theatre, which opens the play on Friday. “I look at August Wilson as sort of a prophet with his ability to write our story. It’s culturally set in the black community and deals with identity and moving forward. But it’s also about family and future generations. It asks if we should move forward or should we take the strength we’ve gained from the past and move forward.”

The story offers no right or wrong answer.

“The play also has no villain,” Williams says. “Everyone wants what’s right for the family.”

The complex story offers a challenge to any director. Tim Sandifer accepted the job, but recognized its difficulty.

He and Williams assembled a mix of stage veterans and newcomers to present this story set during the Great Depression.

“The Piano Lesson” is the fourth of 10 plays in Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle. It debuted on Broadway in 1987 with Samuel L. Jackson as Boy Willie, the older brother who wants to sell the family piano and use the money to purchase a house.

Wilson’s play was inspired by Romare Bearden’s 1983 collage, “Piano Lesson,” depicting a piano teacher instructing a child thought to be jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams, who grew up in Pittsburgh.

Wilson’s story follows the lives of the Charles family in 1936 Pittsburgh, focusing on the family piano. Their great-grandfather carved the surface with the faces of family during their days of enslavement.