August Wilson's 'King Hedley II' champions common man with beauty and brutality
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Tyla Abercrumbie as Tonya and Ben Cain as King Hedley II in Pittsburgh Playwrights' production at the August Wilson Center, Downtown. -
Chrystal Bates portrays Ruby and Leslie Ezra Smith is Mister in "King Hedley II" at the August Wilson Center, Downtown.
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One of the many aspects of August Wilson's genius is his talent for taking lowly specifics and exalting them as universals.
In "King Hedley II," which runs through June 12 at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, a patch of dust behind a Hill District tenement is a man's soul laid bare, a video store represents his hope for a future, and the corpse of a cat stands in for the deals we try to make with God when justice is in short supply.
This production is a joint project of Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company and the August Wilson Center. "Hedley" premiered in Pittsburgh in 1999 at the O'Reilly Theater before going on to Broadway.
Eileen Morris is now artistic director of Houston's Ensemble Theater, but she directed the first Wilson play for Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company in 2003 and returns to direct "King Hedley II." Mark Clayton Southers, the founder of Pittsburgh Playwrights, is now the August Wilson Center's artistic director for theater initiatives, so the production has the feel of a family reunion.
Where: August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Downtown.
When: June 9-10 at 8 p.m. and June 12 at 7 p.m.
Tickets: Tickets: $20-$30; proartstickets.org or 412-394-3353.
Since this is one of Wilson's darkest works, the homecoming vibe is more bittersweet than triumphant, despite the gleaming surroundings of the Downtown center. But the combination of forces reuniting, along with a stunning cast, makes for powerful drama.
It only adds to the resonance that "King Hedley II" is set in 1986, when trickle-down economics were in the process of transforming the working poor into the just-poor and opportunities were hard to come by.
Home after a stint in prison for murder, King Hedley is trying to make a decent life for himself and his wife Tonya with the help of his friend Mister, but finds only frustration. His estranged mother Ruby, a former torch singer, has reunited with a beau, Elmore, and the presence of the past -- Elmore had some shady dealings with King's father -- conspires to hold King back as well. Stool Pigeon, the neighborhood soothsayer, acts as a one-man Greek chorus, reminding us often that God isn't fair, but in much more explicit terms.
The events of this play certainly bear him out, but "Hedley" isn't a dirge; it's full of bluesy tension and humor. Like King himself, the play wrestles hard with the terrible challenge of living, not dying.
First Published June 8, 2011 12:39 pm
