Putting Black Culture on Stage: August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle

In "Putting Black Culture on Stage: August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle," Patricia M. Gantt offers an overview of Wilson's life and work, including his background, motivation, dramatic aesthetic, and themes. Taking each of the ten plays in the Pittsburgh Cycle in the order of its New York stage production, Gantt discusses the works' characters and recurring concerns. Throughout, she investigates Wilson's stated goal of drawing on black culture-in all its sacred and secular particularities-to create art. Her critique aims at suggesting possible fields of future inquiry for teachers and scholars, and assesses Wilson's numerous contributions to American dramatic tradition.