A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
LESSON ON FAMILY LEGACY
Actors’ Shakespeare Project continues its exploration of August Wilson’s Century Cycle with an absolutely superb production of the 1987 Pulitzer-winning masterpiece The Piano Lesson. In a Pittsburgh home in 1936, two siblings of the Charles family debate whether to sell or keep an heirloom–the family piano, which is covered with carved depictions of their family heritage. For Berniece, who shares the home with her Uncle Doaker and her 11-year-old daughter Maretha, the piano embodies their family’s legacy and her memories of their mother; for her brother Boy Willie, a sharecropper, the sale of the piano represents a chance to purchase land in his home state of Mississippi—land where his ancestors toiled as slaves that once belonged to the Sutter family; it is one of their relations who carved the piano. With the last Sutter having mysteriously died, the land is now up for sale.
Omar Robinson and Anthony T Goss
Jade Guerra, Anthony T Goss, Jonathan Kitt and Omar Robinson
Clocking in at nearly three hours with intermission, the tension—and humor—are continuously engaging. Directed by ASP Artistic Director Christopher V. Edwards, every actor in this stellar cast triumphantly hits the right note.
Daniel Rios Jr., Jonathan Kitt, and Anthony T Goss
Jonathan Kitt and “ranney”
As the owner of the Charles household, Jonathan Kitt delivers a delightful monologue expressing railroad worker Doaker’s frustration with passengers who don’t know where they’re going. As country boy Lymon, who has arrived with Boy Willie from Mississippi, Anthony T. Goss is funny and endearing, utterly adorable in his 100% silk “magic” suit which he has been told is guaranteed to attract city women (costumes by Nia Safarr Banks). Ariel Phillips is utterly convincing as the 11-year-old Maretha, hitting the perfect mix of shyness and curiosity about her adult relatives. As Avery Brown, a preacher who wishes to court Berniece, Daniel Rios, Jr. delivers a gripping account of the dream that drove him into the ministry, even while other characters roll their eyes.
Jade Guerra and Ariel Phillips
Ariel Phillips, Omar Robinson, and Jade Guerra
As Charles’ elder brother Wining Boy, a piano-playing drinker and gambling man, “ranney” wowed with his singing and poignant longing for the dead wife he betrayed. Brittani J. McBride brings freshness and vitality to her relatively small role of Grace, a young promiscuous woman whom Boy Willie brings back to the house for a liaison.
Omar Robinson, Jonathan Kitt, “ranney” and Anthony T Goss
Anthony T Goss and “ranney”
As Berniece and Boy Willie, Jade Guerra and Omar Robinson crackle with sibling rage as both characters are utterly resolved to have their way; neither has an inch to give when it comes not only to the piano, but to one another’s past behavior. Guerra offers a powerful defense of her unwillingness to marry and her resistance to pressure to do so. Yet it is Robinson who absolutely drives the story forward with his expression of Boy Willy’s energy and unbridled determination. Wholly unlikeable yet altogether fascinating, he delivers a jaw-dropping performance, from Boy Willie’s intrusive 5:00am arrival up to the shocking climax and startling last minutes. A play that seems headed toward violence culminates in an act of reconciliation.
Jade Guerra, “ranney”, Jonathan Kitt and Omar Robinson
Jonathan Kitt
Technically, the show delivers more delights. Jon Savage provides a complete house for the set, including the kitchen, the very important front door, a staircase that leads to the essential second floor, and the convincingly presented crucial piano in the parlor. While many of Wilson’s plays include characters who have a relationship to the supernatural or divine, this is the first I’ve seen in which the supernatural is its own character. That supernatural presence is very effective with Isaak Olson lights and James Cannon‘s sound: Flickering lights, moments of complete darkness, unexpected crashes, booms, and eerie tones heighten the sense of other-worldly forces.
The Family Piano
Jonathan Kitt, Anthony T Goss, “ranney”, and Omar Robinson
Once again, Actors’ Shakespeare Project delivers a production that raises the bar for Boston-area theater and it is doing so not in the theater district or the South End or Cambridge, but in the newly revitalized Nubian Square. I hope audiences will rise to the occasion as well and bring The Piano Lesson the wide attention and enthusiastic plaudits it deserves.
Jade Guerra and Daniel Rios Jr.
Omar Robinson, “ranney”, Anthony T Goss, Jonathan Kitt, and Daniel Rios Jr.
photos by Nile Scott Studios
“ranney”, Omar Robison, Ariel Phillips, and Jade Guerra
The Piano Lesson
Actors Shakespeare Project in partnership with Hibernian Hall
Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley Street in Boston
two hours and forty-five minutes, including one intermission
ends on February 23, 2025
for tickets ($20-$64), call 617.933.8600 or visit Actors Shakespeare Project
