Introduction

For more than twenty years, August Wilson has been chronicling the African-American experience in the twentieth century through his acclaimed cycle of plays, one for each decade.  With all but one set in Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District (Wilson’s birthplace), they touch on everything from the birth of the blues to urban redevelopment.  These plays have been widely produced and have won numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes.  Last season McCarter produced Gem of the Ocean, the chronological beginning of the cycle.  This season we present Radio Golf, the final play of the cycle, completed just before Wilson’s death in 2005.

Set in 1997, Radio Golf is about Harmond Wilks, a successful real estate developer and mayoral candidate. Wilks has a plan to revitalize the Hill District, where he grew up.  But doing so requires having the neighborhood declared blighted, forever changing its character. It also requires tearing down 1839 Wylie Avenue, Aunt Ester’s house from Gem of the Ocean, a place imbued with history, spirituality and the stories of the past.  When a stranger appears claiming ownership of 1839 Wylie, Wilks is forced to confront his relationship with his past, his community and his values.

Rich with heart and humor, Radio Golf examines the definition of success, asking complex questions about urban development, class, community and what is gained and lost when neighborhoods change. In highlighting the relationship of the African-American upper middle class to the rest of the black community, Wilson comments by extension on the responsibility of all Americans for the future of this land.