Pittsburgh's premier undergraduate theater training program has finally honored Pittsburgh's greatest dramatist with a mainstage production, and although it's unfortunate it took Carnegie Mellon University so long, it has done the late August Wilson proud. And in CMU's defense, it was the first university in Pittsburgh to give Wilson an honorary degree, which moved him very much, given the many unhappy experiences of his school years.

None of Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle plays is easy, but "The Piano Lesson" has some special challenges, chiefly a blend of the naturalistic and supernatural that results in a bold mix of styles, plus theatrical fireworks. And as with any college production, there's the challenge of actors playing older characters.

But there's no need to stress the extra degree of difficulty, because this "Piano Lesson" is solidly realized by guest director Elizabeth Van Dyke and cast. It provides a rich introductory opportunity for those Pittsburghers who still don't know Wilson's work, all the better because this is among his three or four best plays, not to mention that it won a Pulitzer Prize.

"Piano Lesson" has the Wilson signature of an ensemble that interacts vigorously, leaving us gradually to piece together the history that drives the characters' conflicts and understand the layers of the specific conflict at the center.

It's a conflict all the more potent for pitting against each other an equally admirable, equally flawed brother and sister. You can't help but side now with one, now with the other. But while I think it's clear which one is right in the end, ultimately both are right for the wrong reasons -- or maybe it's wrong for the right reasons.

Berniece is trying to make a quiet life for herself and her daughter in the 1936 Hill District, blocking out the violence behind her in Mississippi. Suddenly the obstreperous, irrepressible Boy Willie arrives with a truckload of watermelons. The focus of their conflict is a piano soaked in the blood of generations but also lovingly carved with family history, chronicling a legacy of pride and survival.

Surrounding Berniece and Boy Willie are two older uncles and two friends, all immigrants from Mississippi with their own stories, demons and desires. The one thing I would have added to the very informative program notes by dramaturg Breanna Zwart is a family tree, but the import of the family heritage becomes clear enough as the play heats up in Act 2.

Driving the play with a whirlwind of energy and conviction is the Boy Willie of Jon Michael Reese. Amanda Payton (whom I saw, very fine) and Michaela Watkins alternate as the conflicted Berniece, with the other playing the smaller role of Grace. Kyle Beltran plays the sweet country bumpkin, Lymon, and Tyree Robinson is the ambitious preacher, Avery.

Boy Willie and Berniece are central, but Wilson is like Chekhov in that every role has dimension. None is more difficult for young actors than the older uncles, Doaker and Wining Boy, played respectively with grounded truth by Larry Powell and comic relish by Mathanee Treco.

The overall acting level is high, with the chief flaw an occasional volume failure, perhaps addressed as they have gotten used to the large Chosky Theatre.

I'm not as impressed by the set design as usual at CMU, and I'd quibble with a few of Van Dyke's directorial choices -- not having Wining Boy exit with Boy Willie at the end is more than a quibble -- but her fine work shows in the grounded, expressive acting.