This insightful documentary on the acclaimed playwright and poet August Wilson is part of the American Masters series on PBS. Wilson was able to capture the African American's experiences, in an urban setting, and transform them onto the stage in a most powerful and emotional way. He penned an unprecedented 10 plays for 10 separate decades in American history, encompassing all of the 20th century.
The film traces his most difficult early life, born into abject poverty in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, to a white drunkard father and a black mother. After confrontations at school, Wilson ended up leaving school and teaching himself at the local library.
Highly intelligent, Wilson was fascinated by words even at a very young age. I was amazed at his ability to listen to conversations in local bars, billiard halls, barber shops, and restaurants, and transform them into extremely powerful dialogue for his plays. He talks about, in the film, seeing himself as a collagist, as he didn't write a play from beginning to end but wrote it piecemeal as he developed characters from these words and conversations he overheard.
Wilson's work was recommended to the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, which was attempting to find new playwrights , and give them a chance to be heard by others. Early on, he formed a collaboration with the renowned director Lloyd Richards, and after the noted New York Times theater critic Frank Rich wrote a rave review on Wilson's play at the O'Neill Center, well as they say the rest is history.
Wilson, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 60, is shown in many interviews in the movie, and presents his thoughts and ideas about his characters and plays in a most succinct manner. Such notable acting stalwarts as Laurence Fishburne, Viola Davis, Charles S. Dutton, and S. Epatha Merkerson also add their voices in interviews, as they performed on stage, mostly in their early careers, in Wilson's plays. There are also many clips of scenes in these stage productions.
Finally, the film notes Wilson's life was not without controversy, as he was deemed a hypocrite by some, for advocating black actors not perform in plays written by whites or in theaters owned by whites. However, it's noted that Wilson agreed to have all his plays performed in white owned theaters on Broadway.
All in all, I found this PBS documentary, directed by Sam Pollard, to be insightful and informative, as I thought it presented August Wilson's genius for writing quite well.
The film traces his most difficult early life, born into abject poverty in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, to a white drunkard father and a black mother. After confrontations at school, Wilson ended up leaving school and teaching himself at the local library.
Highly intelligent, Wilson was fascinated by words even at a very young age. I was amazed at his ability to listen to conversations in local bars, billiard halls, barber shops, and restaurants, and transform them into extremely powerful dialogue for his plays. He talks about, in the film, seeing himself as a collagist, as he didn't write a play from beginning to end but wrote it piecemeal as he developed characters from these words and conversations he overheard.
Wilson's work was recommended to the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, which was attempting to find new playwrights , and give them a chance to be heard by others. Early on, he formed a collaboration with the renowned director Lloyd Richards, and after the noted New York Times theater critic Frank Rich wrote a rave review on Wilson's play at the O'Neill Center, well as they say the rest is history.
Wilson, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 60, is shown in many interviews in the movie, and presents his thoughts and ideas about his characters and plays in a most succinct manner. Such notable acting stalwarts as Laurence Fishburne, Viola Davis, Charles S. Dutton, and S. Epatha Merkerson also add their voices in interviews, as they performed on stage, mostly in their early careers, in Wilson's plays. There are also many clips of scenes in these stage productions.
Finally, the film notes Wilson's life was not without controversy, as he was deemed a hypocrite by some, for advocating black actors not perform in plays written by whites or in theaters owned by whites. However, it's noted that Wilson agreed to have all his plays performed in white owned theaters on Broadway.
All in all, I found this PBS documentary, directed by Sam Pollard, to be insightful and informative, as I thought it presented August Wilson's genius for writing quite well.
