<p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><b><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 28pt; ">The Piano Lesson<u></u><u></u></span></i></b></p>
<p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">By August Wilson<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><b>Monica Olejko, Director</b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; "><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">In honor of Black History Month TrueNorth and the Lorain County Metro Parks present, <i>The Piano Lesson</i>. Set in Pittsburgh, 1936, in the aftermath of the Great Depression. <i>The Piano Lesson</i> 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?<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 26pt; ">**AUDITIONS**<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; ">TrueNorth Cultural Arts / Lorain County Metro Parks<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; ">Saturday, December 17, 2:00 p.m.<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; ">Sunday, December 18, 7:00 p.m.<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; ">Monday, December 19, 7:00 p.m.<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><b><span lang="EN"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; ">
<b><span lang="EN">CASTING 5 MEN / 2 WOMEN / 1 GIRL<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); "><b>Rehearsals:</b> Begin January 3<u></u><u></u></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in; ">Monday through Thursday 7:30 – 10:00 p.m.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in; "><span style="color: black; ">Sunday </span><span style="color: black; ">afternoons, 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in; "><span style="color: black; "><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in; "><span style="color: black; ">Tech Week Begins Sunday, February 12<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in; "><span style="color: black; "> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); "><b>Performances: </b> <span lang="EN">February 17 – March 4<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); "><span lang="EN"> Friday School Matinees, 10:00 a.m.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); "><span lang="EN"> Friday and Saturday evenings, 7:30 p.m.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 1in; text-indent: 0.5in; "><span lang="EN">Sunday Matinees, 3:00 p.m. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); "><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Stipend </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">will be shared with each actor for travel allowance and school performances.<br>
<br><b>Please call</b> <a href="tel:440.949.5200" value="+14409495200" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); ">440.949.5200</a> to set up audition time slot.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; ">
<b><span lang="EN">Characters<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; ">
<b><span lang="EN">Doaker Charles</span></b><span lang="EN">: 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; "><b><span lang="EN">Boy Willie</span></b><span lang="EN">: 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; "><b><span lang="EN">Lymon</span></b><span lang="EN">: 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; "><b><span lang="EN">Berniece</span></b><span lang="EN">: 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; "><b><span lang="EN">Maretha</span></b><span lang="EN">: 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; "><b><span lang="EN">Avery Brown</span></b><span lang="EN">: 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; "><b><span lang="EN">Wining Boy</span></b><span lang="EN">: The comical figure in <i>The Piano Lesson</i>, 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; "><b><span lang="EN">Grace</span></b><span lang="EN">: 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); "><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 1.5in; text-align: justify; ">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; ">
<b><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 28pt; ">The Piano Lesson<u></u><u></u></span></i></b></p><p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; ">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">By American Playwright, August Wilson<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; ">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">(The fifth play in Wilson’s <b><i>The Pittsburgh Cycle</i></b>)<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-left: 19.2pt; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; ">
<u></u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Symbol; ">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; "> </span></span><u></u><span lang="EN">1990 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama_Desk_Award" title="Drama Desk Award" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); ">Drama Desk Award</a> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama_Desk_Award_for_Outstanding_Play" title="Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); ">Outstanding Play</a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-left: 19.2pt; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><u></u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Symbol; ">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; "> </span></span><u></u><span lang="EN">1990 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Drama_Critics%27_Circle" title="New York Drama Critics' Circle" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); ">New York Drama Critics' Circle</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Drama_Critics%27_Circle#Best_Play" title="New York Drama Critics' Circle" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); ">Award for Best Play</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-left: 19.2pt; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><u></u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Symbol; ">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; "> </span></span><u></u><span lang="EN">1990 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize" title="Pulitzer Prize" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); ">Pulitzer Prize</a> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Drama" title="Pulitzer Prize for Drama" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); ">Drama</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-left: 19.2pt; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><u></u><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Symbol; ">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; "> </span></span><u></u><span lang="EN">1995 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody_Award" title="Peabody Award" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); ">Peabody Award</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Inspired by a Romare Bearden painting titled <b><i>The Piano Lesson</i><u></u><u></u></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0in; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; line-height: 18pt; ">
<span style="color: black; ">The various members of an African-American family in the 1930s strive to overcome the past … </span><span lang="EN">Set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression, <i>The Piano Lesson</i> 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.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0in; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: justify; line-height: 18pt; ">
<span lang="EN"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p align="center" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); text-align: center; "> <b>TrueNorth / <i>The Piano Lesson</i> <u>Production Team</u></b><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 3.5in; text-align: justify; "><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Rick Fortney Artistic Director<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 3.5in; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); ">Monica Olejko Director<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 3.5in; text-align: justify; "><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Cameron Michalak</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; "> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; "> Scenic Design/Tech Director</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 3.5in; text-align: justify; "><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Mo Patterson </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; ">Lighting Design</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 3.5in; text-align: justify; "><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Carlton Guc</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; "> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; "> Sound Design</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><span lang="EN"><u></u><u></u></span></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 3.5in; text-align: justify; "><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Heather Brown </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; ">Costume/Props Design</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 3.5in; text-align: justify; "><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Brian Bowers</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; "> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; "> Marketing / Photography / House Manager</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); margin-left: 3.5in; text-align: justify; "><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Alex Arroyo</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; "> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: black; "> Cultural Arts Programmer</span></p>