'Radio Golf' is next in August Wilson's cycle of plays
BY JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
Saturday, February 23, 2013
2/23/13 at 5:21 AM
With "Radio Golf," which opens Saturday at the Tulsa PAC, Theatre North has reached the halfway point in its presentations of plays by August Wilson.
Wilson is best-known for what has come to be known as "The Pittsburgh Cycle," a series of 10 plays that chronicle the experiences of African-Americans in the 20th century through stories set in very particular times and one very particular place - the Hill District of Pittsburgh, where Wilson grew up.
Theatre North has previously staged the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Fences" in 1990, in collaboration with American Theatre Company; "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" in 1991; "Two Trains Running" in 1997; and "King Hedley II" in 2007.
Each play in Wilson's cycle is set in a different decade of the 20th century, although the plays were not originally written in chronological order.
However, Wilson's last play, "Radio Golf," which he completed shortly before his death in 2005, was also the play with the most contemporary setting, taking place in the 1990s.
The play centers around Harmond Wilks, an ambitious businessman who is determined to become the city's first African-American mayor. One of the ways he hopes to secure the job is through a real estate venture - one that would require the demolition of a substantial part of the history of Hill District.
That conflict of history-versus-progress ends up forcing other secrets into the light, as two longtime residents of the district confront Wilks about his plans to raze one special old house.
Rodney L. Clark directs the production, which will feature Garner Burkhalter, Kenneth Page, Bridgette Clark, Andre Grayson and Robert Lee.
Performances are 8 p.m. Saturday and March 1-2, 3 p.m. Sunday at the Tulsa PAC, 110 E. Second St. Tickets are $12.50-$15. 918-596-7111, tulsaworld.com/mytix
Original Print Headline: 'Radio Golf' is next in Wilson's cycle of plays
James D. Watts Jr. 918-581-8478
james.watts@tulsaworld.com
