[NEohioPAL] ***Auditions TODAY and Tomorrow***The Piano Lesson*** By August Wilson***

[Heather Brown]

*The Piano Lesson*

By August Wilson

Monica Olejko, Director

In honor of Black History Month TrueNorth and the Lorain County Metro Parks
present, The Piano Lesson.  Set in Pittsburgh, 1936, in the aftermath of
the Great Depression.  The Piano Lesson follows the story of an African
American family and what they do with a family heirloom … a piano.  Do they
sell it to triumph over their ancestor’s slavery or do they keep it,
cherishing their family’s legacy?

**AUDITIONS**

TrueNorth Cultural Arts / Lorain County Metro Parks

Sunday, December 18, 7:00 p.m.

Monday, December 19, 7:00 p.m.



*CASTING 5 MEN / 2 WOMEN / 1 GIRL*

*Rehearsals:        Begin January 3*

*Monday through Thursday 7:30 – 10:00 p.m.*

*Sunday afternoons, 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.*



Tech Week Begins Sunday, February 12



Performances:                   February 17 – March 4

                                          Friday School Matinees, 10:00 a.m.

                                          Friday and Saturday evenings,
7:30 p.m.

Sunday Matinees, 3:00 p.m.

*Stipend will be shared with each actor for travel allowance and school
performances*.

Please call 440.949.5200 to set up audition time slot.

Characters

Doaker Charles: The owner of the Charles household; the uncle of Berniece
and Boy Willie. He lives with his niece Bernice and great-niece Maretha. A
tall and thin 47 year old man, Charles recounts the most detailed parts of
his lives with his job on the railroad. Doaker plays the role of the
storyteller, giving detailed and long accounts of the piano's history. Due
to his old age, his connection to the past is expressed through his stories.

Boy Willie: The antagonist of the play, Berniece's impulsive 30 year old
brother represents the lack of accepting one's past. A sharecropper and
recently delivered out of prison from Mississippi, Boy Willie plans to sell
the piano and use the earnings to buy the land where his ancestors had
formerly toiled. His use of the legacy comes down to practicality; Willie
finds the rich culture of his history engraved on the piano through
pictures, blood, and tears to be a simple conversion to money. Rather than
looking upon his past and accepting it, Boy Willie finds the constant need
to prove himself as equal to the white man.

Lymon: Lymon is the 29 year old friend of Boy Willie and is much more
secretive and shy in comparison. He does not speak brashly and attempts to
escape the law by staying in the North and starting a new life.

Berniece: The 35 year old mother of Maretha, Berniece symbolizes the
guardian of her ancestors' past. She remains the only member of the family
to adamantly demand the keepsake of the piano heirloom. Her relation with
her brother further portrays her mourning of her late husband Crawley.
Blaming Boy Willie for Crawley's death, Berniece questions Boy Willie's
foolish actions more than others. While Boy Willie represents an opposing
figure to their father Boy Charles by wanting to be a property owning man,
Berniece draws similarities to her mother Mama Ola who never seemed to
recover from the mourning of her husband either.

Maretha: The 11 year old daughter of Berniece, Maretha plays the role of
the future generation for the Charles family. Although Berniece teaches her
how to play the piano, she does not allow any history of the piano become
apparent to Maretha.

Avery Brown: A 38 year old preacher who has been attempting to court
Berniece ever since the death of Crawley, Avery Brown is a man of honest
and good intentions. Constantly stressing his Christian view on things and
advocating his hopes to build a congregation, Avery is aware that Berniece
will never sell her piano heirloom. Also not related to the Charles family,
Avery often offers advice to Berniece in an effort to help her let go of
the fears of her past and the lingering mourning of her husband.

Wining Boy: The comical figure in The Piano Lesson, the Wining Boy is the
56 year old elder brother of Doaker Charles. He tries to portray the image
of a successful musician and gambler, but his music and attire are
extremely dated. Instead of wanting to live in the present and the future
like his nephew Boy Willie, Wining Boy drowns himself in the sorrows of his
past. Whenever he ends up bankrupt, he wanders back into the Charles house
to retell the days of the glory and fame.

Grace: One of the last figures to be added to the play, Grace shows the
desires of both Boy Willie and Lymon. Both men attempt to be with her and
play to her good graces. Since she is not a member of the Charles family,
the tension she feels in the last scene of Act Two demonstrates how strong
the presence of the ancestral ghosts are in the Charles household.





The Piano Lesson

By American Playwright, August Wilson

(The fifth play in Wilson’s The Pittsburgh Cycle)

·         1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play

·         1990 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play

·         1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

·         1995 Peabody Award

Inspired by a Romare Bearden painting titled The Piano Lesson

The various members of an African-American family in the 1930s strive to
overcome the past … Set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the
Great Depression, The Piano Lesson follows the lives of the Sutter family
in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the infamous piano. The
play focuses on the arguments between a brother and a sister who have
different ideas on what to do with the piano they own. The brother, Boy
Willie, is a sharecropper who wants to sell the piano to buy the land that
his ancestors had toiled on as slaves while the sister, Berniece, remains
emphatic about keeping it. The piano shows the carved faces of their
great-grandfather's wife of son during the days of their enslavement.



 * TrueNorth / The Piano Lesson Production Team*

*Rick Fortney                Artistic Director*

*Monica Olejko            Director*

*Cameron Michalak     Scenic Design/Tech Director*

*Mo Patterson              Lighting Design*

*Carlton Guc                 Sound Design*

*Heather Brown           Costume/Props Design*

*Brian Bowers              Marketing / Photography / House Manager*

*Alex Arroyo                 Cultural Arts Programmer*
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