Louisville Theatre Community Honors August Wilson
Local theatre artists and aficionados will gather Thursday, Nov. 17 to honor one of America's most prolific playwrights, August Wilson, who died last month in Seattle. The tribute will start at 7 p.m. at the Bingham Theatre at Actors Theatre of Louisville, 316 W. Main St. It is being organized by the University of Louisville Theatre Arts Department and its African American Theatre Program.
Wilson won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for his play Fences and a second Pulitzer for The Piano Lesson. The self-educated playwright wrote a 10-play cycle on 20th-century Pittsburgh during his lifetime.
Guest speaker Dr. Harry Elam Jr. will give an address titled "August Wilson and the Doing and Undoing of History." Elam is chairman of the Stanford University Drama Department, director of Stanford's Committee on Black Performing Arts, the editor of the Theatre Journal, and the Olive H. Palmer Professor in the Humanities at Stanford. His books include The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson. A director for more than 18 years, Elam has directed several of Wilson's plays, including Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Two Trains Running and Fences.
The event will also feature performances of monologues, scenes or songs from each of the decade-cycle plays. For more information, contact Dr. Lundeana M. Thomas at 502-852-8442 or deanat@louisville.edu.
