RADIO GOLF

by August Wilson
Now – March 28
Stiemke Theater

RADIO GOLF ‘comes home’ to Timothy Douglas and The Rep.

Come join us in the Stiemke Theater for a truly momentous event: August Wilson’s RADIO GOLF. We are proud to present the final play in Wilson’s epic ten-play cycle on the African-American experience, each set in a different decade of the 20th century. The Rep is honored to welcome back frequent Rep collaborator Timothy Douglas, to direct this historic production. Not only an accomplished actor (you may have last seen him playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in A CHRISTMAS CAROL this winter), Douglas is a distinguished director as well. Recent Rep productions include TROUBLE IN MIND and THE NIGHT IS A CHILD.

This is the fifth play of Wilson’s cycle that The Rep has produced since 1989. Most recently, in the 2006/07 season, Douglas brought us a beautifully-realized production of GEM OF THE OCEAN, the first play of the cycle, set in 1904. Douglas has worked on many of Wilson’s plays as both an actor and a director and is intimately connected to Wilson, not only as a quintessential American playwright, but indeed as a personal colleague. Douglas recalls some of his early experiences with Wilson:

“I arrived at Yale School of Drama as a young acting student the same time August Wilson arrived at Yale Rep as America’s newest powerhouse voice of the theater. . . . Part of my responsibilities as a student was understudying the premieres of the first three plays in Wilson’s Twentieth-Century Cycle and so I got to be ‘in the room’ during the development of MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM, FENCES and JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE.”

This working relationship went on to foster further collaboration. In April, 2005, Douglas directed the world premiere of RADIO GOLF at Yale Rep, where he worked directly with Wilson as the playwright continued to develop the script. Douglas has gone on to direct productions of THE PIANO LESSON, JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE, FENCES and JITNEY – all productions which Wilson himself attended.

Returning to RADIO GOLF nearly five years later serves as a homecoming of sorts for Douglas: “It’s great to finally get to finish what I began. By way of The Rep, RADIO GOLF has finally come back ‘home’ to me, and I look forward to bringing it back to life with five of my favorite and extraordinary actors.” Not only is the play familiar territory for Douglas, but so is the cast, with whom he has worked since the beginning of his directing career. Douglas describes the group this way: “The entire ensemble of actors in this production represents the best in the American Theater, and collectively count among their credits dozens of award-winning regional theater performances, a bevy of Broadway productions and countless film and television appearances.” The cast features Tyrone Mitchell Henderson, Kelly Taffe, Howard W. Overshown, William C. Mitchell and Doug Brown, whom Rep audiences will remember from GEM OF THE OCEAN.

Set in 1997, RADIO GOLF delves into the complex world of Pittsburgh’s black middle class, focusing on Harmond Wilks. An up-and-coming politician and local businessman, Harmond is determined to revive his neighborhood, the depressed Hill District, and to become Pittsburgh’s first black mayor. However, when neighborhood legend Aunt Ester’s house is scheduled to be demolished as a part of his redevelopment plan, things no longer seem so simple. Conflicted, Harmond is caught between the desires of those around him. His wife, Mame, has a surefire plan to get him elected. His business partner, Roosevelt, tries to move their plans forward at any cost, hungry to further his own career. Aunt Ester’s son, Elder Joseph Barlow, and local handyman, Sterling Johnson, attempt to protect the house, urging Harmond to do what is right, rather than what will get him ahead.

In this powerful conclusion to Wilson’s ten-play cycle, difficult questions arise surrounding the nature of success, what it means to move forward and what it means to honor the past. An avid golfer, Harmond believes: “You teach kids how to play golf and they have all the rules they need to win at life.” But what kind of game is golf? Do you need fancy equipment to play? Don’t you at least need grass? Is it a cutthroat game, every man for himself? Or is it a just game, where anyone can get ahead based on their skills and perseverance?

Please join us for August Wilson’s riveting play which explores these questions with insight, humor and emotional intensity.

Zoë Cohen, Literary Intern

THE REP IN DEPTH
Join us for The Rep In Depth, our lively informative half-hour talk which starts 45 minutes before every performance in the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater. This Rep In Depth will be led by DeRante Parker.