In Part I of Joy Ride published by W.W. Norton (2015), John Lahr devotes a separate chapter in Part I to each of twelve playwrights, including August Wilson (1945-2005). Here is a brief excerpt:

“Wilson’s work is a conscious answer to James Baldwin’s call for ‘a profound articulation of the Black Tradition.’ He says he wanted to demonstrate that black American culture ‘was capable of sustaining you, so that when you left your father’s or your mothger’s house you didn’t go into the world naked. You were fully clothed in manners and way of life.’ In the past, playwsrights such as Dubose Heyward, Paul Green, and Eugene O’Neill made blacks and black culture the subject oif of drama; Wilson has made them the object.

“‘When you go to the dictionary and look up ‘black,’ it gives you these definitions that say Affected by an undesirable condition,’ Wilson says. ‘You start thinking something’s wrong with black. When white people say, I don’t see color,‘ what they’re saying is You’re affected by this undesirable condition, but I’ll pretend that I don’t see that. And I go, No, see my color. Look at me. I’m not ashamed of who I am and what I am.'”

Since 1990, August Wilson has been the most produced American playwright and a few of his plays have been made into a film, notably Fences (2016) starring Denzell Washington and Viola Davis.

I urge you to learn more about Wilson and his work by clicking here.

And about John Lahr and his work by clicking here.