#augustwilsonplaywright

[tellingittash]

I read another book, a play this time! This is “The Piano Lesson” by August Williams. The play is about a black family that is divided over a piano. The brother, Boy Willie, wants to buy the land that his ancestors worked on as slaves and the way to do that is by selling the piano he and his sister inherited. His sister, Berniece, wants to hold onto the piano for the memory it holds, even though she herself never plays the piano. The kids I’ve been subbing for have been studying the Great Migration, the event where the Black Majority of the South sought better working conditions in the North and West, and so I thought I would revisit this play I was supposed to read twice over and never did. Whoops. But it wrestles with a lot of the issues surrounding the Great Migration. And I really like it. The prose is quite beautiful and true to life. Many characters have great moments to shine their worldviews. The only issues that I had is that not every issue raised is addressed and some plot points are never brought up again, and there’s a bit of a Dues Ex Machina, but I actually found both of those to be rather beautiful. I’d recommend it to people who want to understand the Black experience better or who want to experience better representation. It’s great art, and even the stuff I don’t like I still love. What more can I say. It’s only 108 pages. Get a copy. Learn some history. All that good stuff. #bookstagram #book #bookreview #bookrecommendations #play #plays #theatre #drama #augustwilson #augustwilsonplays #augustwilsontheatre #augustwilsonplaywright #thepianolesson #thepianolessonplay #thepianolessonbyaugustwilson #thepianolessonbroadway https://www.instagram.com/p/CkkczT7u54E/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=