Despite The Odds
When
it comes to the American theater, you have to consider the great playwrights of
America. One of the greatest American
playwrights was August Wilson who was born April 27,1945-and died October 2, 2005. The general idea of Wilson’s plays was to capture the African
American experience. Wilson was from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and he was the fourth child of six children. Wilson grew up in the hill district of
Pittsburgh and it was the hill district of Pittsburgh that would shape and mold
Wilson’s ideas for his plays.
Wilson’s
talent as a writer started to emerge when he wrote a twenty page paper on
Napoleon I of France while in high school.
Sorry to say, his teacher accused him of plagiarizing the paper so
Wilson became discouraged and finally dropped out of high school. After he had dropped out of high school he
still continued to self-educate himself by going to the Carnegie Library of
Pittsburgh. It is here where Wilson
studied many writers that would later influence his plays. Legendary and influential writers such as
Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, and Richard Wright inspired Wilson not to give
up on his dream to become a successful playwright.
While
Wilson taught himself, he also began to work on menial jobs. On these jobs, Wilson began to meet
different people who would later inspire Wilson’s characters for his
plays. When Wilson began to write, he
first started as a poet. At the age of
twenty Wilson began to submit his poetry to
Harpers Magazine. Although, Wilson showed his talent as a
writer his mother wanted him to become a lawyer. So with this conflict of interest, Wilson’s mother put Wilson out
the family home. Now that Wilson had
left his family’s home he enlisted in the military. Although, he had joined the military, Wilson only served a year
of active duty and then left the military to return to Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, Wilson went back to work at
jobs such as a short order cook, dishwasher, and a porter. Working at these type jobs, Wilson continued
to attempt to publish his poetry.
It
was not until 1968, when Wilson and his friend Rob Penny founded the Black
Horizon Theater, which was a starting place for Wilson to present his
plays. As a matter of fact, Wilson’s
first play Recycling, was produced by
the Black Horizon Theater. The Black
Horizon Theater used small theaters, schools, and public housing community
centers to preform Wilson’s plays for only 50 cents a ticket. It was the Black Horizon Theater, which lead
to the maturation of Wilson as not only a playwright but as director as
well. While Wilson began to write his
plays, he also discovered the need to direct his plays as well. By doing both Wilson, was able to further
his craft. Wilson had the knowledge to
direct his plays as well as write his plays and this made him able to expose
his art further. Wilson began to learn
two crafts at once while he wrote and started to direct his plays. Wilson began to become a better playwright,
due to the experience he gained from directing. Since Wilson did not have the experience of directing, he would
then turn again to the resources that he started with which was the use of the
library. By Wilson doing so he began a
long but slow process to a life of fame.
With
his early success as a playwright in Pittsburgh, Wilson and his friend Rob
Penny and poet Maisha Baton, started what was called the Kuntu Writers
Workshop. The goal of the workshop was
to bring writers together as well as to help them with the process of
publishing and production. In 1976,
Vernell Lillie, founded the Kuntu Repertory Theatre of Pittsburgh, and it was
Lille, who directed Wilson’s play The
Homecoming. The Kuntu Repertory
Theatre of Pittsburgh and The Kuntu Writers Workshop are two programs that are
still active today.
In
1978, due to advice of Claude Purdy friend and director, Wilson moved to Saint
Paul, Minnesota. In Minnesota, Wilson
began to write educational plays for the Science Museum of Minnesota. It was in Minnesota, where Wilson worked as
a cook for the Little Brothers of the Poor.
In 1980, Wilson earned a fellowship form the Playwrights Center in
Minneapolis. Through this event, Wilson
would become connected to the Penumba Theatre Company of St. Paul. The Penumba Theatre became a place where a
lot Wilson’s plays where premiered.
In
1990, Wilson left St. Paul for Seattle, Washington. Seattle was where Wilson became a part of the Seattle Repertory
Theatre. It was this theatre that the
majority of his plays were produced. The Seattle Repertory Theatre produced
Wilson’s one man show How I Learned What
Learned. Wilson’s famous collection
of plays known as The Pittsburgh Cycle
was produced at the Seattle Repertory Theatre also. This extensive 10 play cycle also known as The Century Cycle included some of Wilson’s finest work. Seattle was where Wilson would spend his
last days as he died of liver cancer.
Wilson’s legacy will live on as a great testament of life and as a great
tremendous impact on literature. It is
only literature that will stand the test of time and August Wilson, has made
his mark on the American theater scene.
Despite
Wilson’s dedication to the theater he had offers to have his award winning play
Fences, turned into a movie. Wilson wanting a black director for the
movie, so the movie its self was never produced. It was not a racial issue it was an issue about culture not
race. Wilson wanted a black director
because he a felt black director could relate the African American themes which
Wilson’s play was based on. It was the
genius of Wilson to capture the African American experience with a pen and a
piece of paper and then turn it into play.
As a playwright, Wilson’s inspiration was the African American
experience so in all phases Wilson never wanted to water down his message. Wilson always wanted to make his plays as
real as they could be. If that meant
having a black director for a play then in Wilson’s case that’s how it had to
be.
Even
without a formal education, Wilson had an awesome career and was honored with
many honorary degrees. He even received
an honorary Doctor of Humanities from the University of Pittsburgh. With all odds stacked against Wilson, he
still found success not letting anything stop him. So the story of August Wilson shows that anyone who has a dream
can reach their dream if they don’t give up.
When
it comes to Wilson’s plays his most famous plays are Fences, The Piano Lesson,
and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. It was Fences that earned Wilson a Pulitzer Prize as well as a Tony Award
in 1987. In 1990, Wilson’s play The Piano Lesson won a Pulitzer Prize
and a New York Drama Critic’s Award.
Some of Wilson’s other famous plays were Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Seven
Guitars, and Two Trains Running. Each of these plays were included in
Wilson’s century cycle. The reason why
the Pittsburgh Cycle or also called
the Century Cycle is because each
play is based in a different decade of the Nineteen Hundreds.
The
Legacy of August Wilson is so remarkable because it only serves as a testimony
to anyone who has a dream. August
Wilson was a man who defied the odds that were stacked against him. No matter the issue Wilson never gave
up. Here was a man that no matter what
went down he just kept on with his dreams.
His heart was so huge for his dreams were even bigger and brighter. The theme of Wilson’s Legacy will always be
an example to anyone who has a dream and never gives up no matter what.
