From The City Paper 04/18/2005:

Tennessee rep strikes familiar chord with
The Piano Lesson
By AMY STUMPFL
 
As any seasoned actor can tell you, it’s hard to go wrong when the material is good. And as the Tennessee Repertory Theatre concludes its 2004-05 season, it’s hard to imagine a more powerful finale than August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Piano Lesson.

Set in the playwright’s native Pittsburgh during the 1930s, The Piano Lesson is but one piece in Wilson’s 10-play cycle about African-American life in the 20th century. The poignant drama pits brother against sister as they battle over a priceless heirloom — a piano carved with images of their family’s history.

The brother, Boy Willie, wants to sell the piano to buy the Mississippi land his ancestors once worked as slaves. But his sister, Berniece, adamantly refuses, insisting that the piece holds too much of the family’s legacy to let it go. Caught in the midst of this mighty storm is the siblings’ uncle, Doaker. Sparks fly as the conflict between Boy Willie and Berniece builds to a haunting crescendo, but Doaker is unable — or perhaps unwilling — to choose a side.

Director Woodie King Jr., (the renowned founder of New York City’s New Federal Theatre) has assembled a cast that includes many local favorites — including Jeff Obafemi Carr, Kenneth Dozier, Assata Hefner, Kimberley LaMarque, Chandra Lipscomb and Barry Scott (founder and artistic director of the American Negro Playwright Theatre at Tennessee State University). New York actors Ralph McCain and Carl Gordon round out the ensemble, with Gordon recreating the role of Doaker — which he originated opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Dutton in the Broadway production.

For Gordon, The Piano Lesson offers a rare combination of poetry and prose.

“As with all of August Wilson’s plays, the language in The Piano Lesson is awesome,” he said. “It’s almost like listening to an orchestra — each word is in just the right place.

“I love this story because it always stirs up great debate and discussion within the audience,” he added. “Who’s right? Who’s wrong? August doesn’t really give a lot of answers to these questions, but the material is wonderful.”

Gordon said that he is particularly delighted to be able to recreate the role of Doaker for Nashville audiences. “Doaker is a wonderful role,” he said. “He’s a working man and is probably the most stable character in the play, but he carries a lot of baggage with him. It’s a demanding piece, but it’s very rewarding too.”

While Wilson is best known for writing about African-American themes, Gordon said that The Piano Lesson crosses racial and cultural boundaries.

“Any family can relate to this story. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what color you are.”

Director Woodie King Jr. agreed, comparing Wilson to great American storytellers such as Eugene O’Neil, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams.

“In his commitment to explore every aspect of the African-American life he has found very universal stories and themes,” King said. “The Piano Lesson deals with a specific ethnic group at a specific time in history, but everyone can relate to the story, just as I can relate to plays such as Death of a Salesman or The Iceman Cometh.”

Wilson once said that The Piano Lesson was inspired by Romare Bearden’s 1983 collage of the same name. King said this production builds on that relationship, applying Bearden’s deep color scheme to costumes and the set design.

“I wanted to be true to that inspiration, and I think we’ve accomplished that goal,” King said. “I like the idea of exploring that relationship between Bearden and Wilson and using every character to create a sort of collage on stage.”

Play it again, Steve

One of the most important characters in August Wilson’s play The Piano Lesson is the piano itself. A 137-year-old upright featuring intricate carvings of the family’s ancestors, the piano has been called the most potent symbol in American drama since Laura Wingfield’s glass menagerie from the Tennessee Williams’ classic.

It’s not exactly the kind of item you can go pick up at your local department store or garage sale. So where does one find such an unusual instrument? As with most things these days, Properties Master Steve Lepley started by searching the Internet.

“I started by searching for theaters that had recently done The Piano Lesson, hoping to borrow a piano,” said Lepley, who has been with the Tennessee Repertory Theatre for the past six years. “We located one at the University of Central Arkansas, and they were happy to have us use the piece. Unfortunately it was rather fragile, and several of the sculptures were broken in transit. We attempted to make repairs, but we really weren’t satisfied with the results. Plus, we were afraid that more breakage would occur during production.”

So Lepley did what any good properties master would do — he went shopping. “[Scenic Designer Gary C. Hoff] and I have a regular list of places where we go to look for decorator items to use in our shows,” he said. “After shopping around for about a day and a half, we finally found these really unusual pieces that looked totally authentic.”

Lepley glued the sculptures to a series of panels, which were then screwed to the piano. The entire piece was then refinished so that the figures look as if they were actually sculpted out of the piano.

“By this time we had invested a lot more into this process than we had ever planned, so I gave our friends in Arkansas a call,” Lepley said. “I asked them if they would be open to selling the piece to us since we had to rebuild it. My contact said, ‘We’ll sell the piano to you for exactly what we paid for it — absolutely nothing. So we ended up with this gorgeous piece for the show, and as an added bonus, all of the panels are removable so that the piano may be used in other productions. It was a lot of work, but the results were well worth it.” Director Woodie King Jr. agreed.

“What the Tennessee Rep has done with this set and this particular piece is so awesome, so unique,” he said. “I marvel every time I look at that piano.”

Getting there
What: Tennessee Repertory Theatre presents The Piano Lesson When: Saturday through May 7 Where: James K. Polk Theater at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, 505 Deaderick St. Cost: $15-$42 Info: Call 255-ARTS (2787) or visit www.tnrep.org; www.tpac.org; or www.ticketmaster.com