Photo courtesy of Steve Simons

~ Russell Andrews and Dashawn R. Barnes ~

Theater Critic’s Choice: ‘The Piano Lesson’

August Wilson’s majestic ghost story, set in 1936 Pittsburgh, focuses on the battle between siblings Berniece (Vanessa Bell Calloway), who’s determined to remember the past, and Boy Willie (Russell Andrews), who’s itching to create a new future. They clash over the fate of an intricately carved piano with a disturbing history, dating back to slave days. Veteran Wilson director Claude Purdy’s staging is stocked with rich performances not only from the leads but also from Alex Morris and Ben Guillory as the siblings’ uncles, Roscoe C. Freeman as Boy Willie’s impressionable pal, Julius Tennon as Berniece’s starchy preacher and suitor, DaShawn R. Barnes as her gangly daughter and Tammi Mac as a woman on the town. If you don’t believe in the play’s ghosts, consider whether you believe in those who haunt Hamlet and Macbeth.

–Don Shirley

The Hayworth Theatre, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Info: (800) 838-3006 or Thehayworth.com. Thurs.-Fris. at 8 p.m.; Sats. at 3 p.m. & 8 p.m.; Suns. at 3 p.m. No perfs. Nov. 22-23. Closes Dec. 9.