WWW.STUDIOCITYSUN.COM STUDIO CITY SUN NOV 16-22, 2007

August Wilson revival lights up Hayworth Theater

(L-R) Russell Andrews, Roscoe C. Freeman, Ben Guillory, Alex Morris in The Piano Lesson.

BY PAULINE ADAMEK

August Wilson is one of America’s greatest playwrights, and fortunately for us,

his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Piano Lesson, is currently being staged at the Hayworth Theatre by the StageWalkers troupe.

Experiencing an August Wilson play is like stepping through a time machine, in this instance back to depression-era Pittsburgh. The period detail of the set design (by Joel Daavid) and costume design (Naila Sanders) is impeccable. The rhythms and idiom of Wilson’s dialogue is evocative and authentic. It’s evident that the actors were having a lot of fun inhabiting these characters of yesteryear.

Here is some of the finest acting you’ll see on a Los Angeles stage. Paired with the attentive direction from Claude Purdy, each one of these first-rate actors is a joy to watch. This volatile drama pits brother against sister in a battle to wills to decide the future of a treasured heirloom; a piano, carved with African-style portraits by their grandfather, an enslaved plantation carpenter. The brother wants to sell it to buy land, while the sister adamantly insists that the instrument carries too much family history to be sold.

Russell Andrews is arresting as the boisterous, feisty country fellow Willie Boy while Vanessa Bell Calloway holds her own as his determined sister Berniece. There’s a lot of talk of how the piano came to be in the family and the significance of the elaborate carvings on its surfaces, rep- resenting family members and scenes of violence. To Berniece, the piano has blood on it, both literally and figuratively, and it represents the struggles of her people. Boy Willie has scant regard for the past. He has a dream, to own some land and get out from under the oppressive yoke of forced labor for others. As the recriminations and old grudges rage back and forth, the specter of the piano’s previous owner begins to manifest itself.

An important feature of this production is the superb sound design and music composed by Michael Sena. The bluesy refrain on dobro (a resonating steel guitar) that bookends each scene sets a tangible mood, though it was often interrupted by the classical tinkling of the ghostly piano as a somewhat overused device. The spooky sounds when the piano refuses to budge invest it with a life of its own. A highlight of the evening is when the fellows are drinking whisky around the kitchen table and break into a rousing chain gang spiritual. Even the simple act of ironing a pair of pants turns into a rhythmic song.

My only misgiving is that this play is almost three hours long. During the play’s final argument between Boy Willie and Berniece, I was tired and easily distracted by her mesmerizing business with a hot comb and some hair grease as she tended to her little daughter’s hair that I forgot to pay attention to the dialogue.

Director Claude Purdy apparently shared a shady past with Wilson and has privileged permission to stage his marvelous plays. Purdy does justice to the memory of Wilson, not so much with excessive reverence but with a diligence and accuracy that permits his wonderful actors to breathe new life into these old tales. In spite of an anti-climactic and far-fetched ending, The Piano Lesson is an important production and should not be missed. ?

The Piano Lesson runs through Dec 9, Thursday to Saturday at 8 pm. Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3pm; Hayworth Theatre 2509 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles;

Tickets: $32.00, matinees $27.00; Box Office: (213) 389-9860 or www.stagewalkersproductions.com/topurchasetickets.htm