Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...Now being given a gorgeous production at A Noise Within, The Piano Lesson stands as one of the most powerful pieces of American theater, offering a rich and compelling portrayal of African-American life in the 1930s. As part of Wilson's famed "Pittsburgh Cycle," this play, which won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, continues to resonate for its exploration of heritage, memory, and the deeply felt connection to family and history."
Stage Scene LA
- Highly Recommended
"...To sell or not to sell. That is the question at the heart of the Pulitzer Prize-winning August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, an October gift from A Noise Within to the playwright's many fans, and even for those like this reviewer who'd prefer it if Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle decalogy didn't run a hefty three hours each, this is easily one of his most entertaining and powerful works."
Night Tinted Glasses
- Highly Recommended
"...The Piano Lesson is the latest production by A Noise Within, part of their ongoing to stage every single one of Wilson's "Century Cycle." It centers around a piano jointly owned by a pair of siblings--Boy William (Kai A. Ealy) and his sister Berniece (Nija Okoro). That piano is the center of the story, equal parts Sauron's Ring and Excalibur, an intrinsic part of this family's history for better, for worse as well as all points in between. Berniece lives in Pittsburgh with her daughter Maretha (Madison Keffer) and their uncle Doaker (Alex Morris)."
Showmag
- Highly Recommended
"...The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, the towering playwright of the 20th Century, is a significant part of his 10-play cycle covering "the Great Migration" to the North of African Americans following the Civil War and into the 20thCentury. It may be difficult to separate the significance of the play itself from experiencing it as a live performance, but A Noise Within has the help of veteran director Gregg T. Daniel, along with a phalanx of talented designers to illuminate the tale."
Stage Raw
- Highly Recommended
"...The piano has the family's ancestors, their faces, carved into its wood: The symbolism could not be more apparent: Does one sever oneself from one's legacy in order to move beyond it, or does one treat legacy as a road from past to future, on which one must tread in order to sustain identity and purpose? Is the past a burden or guide? And what happens, as in the 21st century, when the narratives of the past are so at odds? In the 20th century, we were slightly closer to dwelling in one reality. No more."
Larchmont Buzz
- Highly Recommended
"...August Wilson's The Piano Lesson is actually the lesson of the piano, a valuable family heirloom owned jointly by family members who disagree on its disposition. Hold onto it as a symbol of the family legacy, or sell it so one family member can pursue a dream? Learn the piano's lesson, or ignore its power?"
Broadway World
- Highly Recommended
"...The entirety of the action in August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON unfolds in a single place - a house in Pittsburgh's Hill District, in the mid-1930s. That domicile, home to Doaker Charles, his niece, Berniece and her daughter, Maretha. Doaker is a not-quite-retired railway cook, and his house might as well be a train depot for all the comings and goings. Wilson begins his play with an arrival of a newcomer from the south and concludes it, some three hours later, with a departure. In the meantime, people cycle in and out, several with heads stuffed with big plans - to get married, to start a church, to buy land, to return south, to hop a train. Oh, and not incidentally, this house which they all pass through, happens to be haunted."
