“I wanted to present the unique particulars of black American culture as the transformation
of impulse and sensibility into codes of conduct and response, into cultural rituals that
defined and celebrated ourselves as men and women of high purpose. I wanted to place
this culture on stage in all is richness and fullness and to demonstrate its ability to sustain
us in all areas of human life and endeavor and through profound moments of our history
in which the larger society has thought less of us than we have thought of ourselves.”
—August Wilson
Each of the ten plays of August Wilson’s Century Cycle—one for each decade of the 20th century—
depicts a moment in the African American experience. With the exception of Ma Rainey’s Black
Bottom, all of the plays take place in Wilson’s home neighborhood, the Hill District of Pittsburgh.
Gem of the Ocean (set in 1904)
Guided by centuries-old sage Aunt Ester, a free man named Citizen journeys into the
collective memory of the Middle Passage.
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1911)
Herald Loomis is on a quest to find his wife in this mystical play set during the Great
Migration, when many members of the first generation of African Americans born free
headed north, only to find that prejudice and loss pursued them there.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1927)
Charles Parnell in the 2002 Actors production of Jitney, directed by Timothy Douglas. Photo by Harlan Taylor.
During a tense recording session on Chicago’s South Side, African American blues
musicians struggle for economic and artistic self-determination in the face of racism and
a shifting marketplace.
The Piano Lesson (1936)
Winner, 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Siblings Berniece and Boy Willie battle over the fate of a family heirloom, a piano
carved with the story of their enslaved ancestors.
Seven Guitars (1948)
Part murder mystery, part memory play, Seven Guitars depicts the events leading up to
the untimely death of Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton, a gifted blues guitarist.
Carl Cofield and Pat Bowie in the 2006 Actors production of Gem of the Ocean, directed by Ron OJ Parson.
Photo by Harlan Taylor.
Fences (1957)
Winner, 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play
In the backyard of their Pittsburgh home, tragic Everyman Troy Maxson and his
family wrestle with the fallout from his failed baseball career and the betrayal and
disappointment stemming from Troy’s pursuit of the American Dream.
Two Trains Running (1969)
Regulars at a soul food diner examine life in the wake of the death of Malcolm X while
their neighborhood changes around them.
Jitney (1977)
Tyrone Mitchell Henderson and Kelly Taffe in the 2001 Actors production of The Piano Lesson,
directed by Timothy Douglas. Photo by Fred Furrow III.
Employees at a community cab company face the demolition of the abandoned
storefront they use as a cab station, one of many examples of the misguided urban
renewal policies of the seventies.
King Hedley II (1985)
The sequel to Seven Guitars, King Hedley II explores the devastating consequences
of African American disenfranchisement during the boom times of the Reagan
administration.
Radio Golf (1997)
Real estate developer Harmond Wilks has to choose between honoring his heritage
and pursuing financial and political success as he considers his most lucrative deal yet,
which requires demolishing the house of Aunt Ester, the Century Cycle’s matriarch.
Stephanie Berry and Ernest Perry, Jr., in the 2005 Actors production of Fences, directed by Timothy Douglas.
Photo by Harlan Taylor.
—Jessica Reese
Paramount’
s
Blues:
The Recording Industry in the 1920s
The real-life Gertrude “Ma” Rainey recorded her
biggest hits with Paramount Records. Paramount’s
business practices reflect broader trends in the
recording industry of the 1920s and form the
historical context for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Although the play is not based on a specific
recording session, August Wilson accurately
depicts the essence of the struggle for artistic and
economic self-determination that Gertrude “Ma”
Rainey and other African American musicians
of the era faced in the recording studio.
Paramount Records has a curious history. It began
as an extension of the Wisconsin Chair Company,
a furniture company based in Port Washington,
Wisconsin, a small and exclusively white community
far from the Southern roots of the blues. The
Wisconsin Chair Company first began producing
records to promote the sale of its phonograph
cabinets and phonographs. It formally incorporated
as the New York Recording Studio Laboratories and
launched the Paramount label in 1917. Paramount
initially floundered among its larger competitors,
including Victor and Columbia. But in 1920, the
first blues record ever released, Mamie Smith’s
“Crazy Blues,” sold a remarkable 7,500 copies in one
week, and Paramount saw an unbeatable business
opportunity. Producing its first blues record in 1922,
the company found its niche in recording music for
the untapped market of African American listeners.
For nearly a decade, Paramount recorded some of
the most legendary blues artists, including “Ma”
Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Son House.
Paramount’s success, however, came at the expense
of its African American artists. Paramount often
required artists to waive their copyright privileges in
their contracts, and when the company bought songs,
they purchased them for a flat price, never giving
credit or royalties to songwriters. For example, “See
See Rider” (also spelled “C. C. Rider”), a classic blues
song covered by artists ranging from Peggy Lee to
the Grateful Dead, was written by “Ma” Rainey, but
she was never given credit for it. And when it came
to paying royalties from record sales, according to
historian Stephan Calt, “Paramount institutionalized
the cheating of artists.” Most Paramount artists
never received royalties, regardless of how much
money they made for the company through record
sales. Finally, the disparity in pay between white and
black artists of the era is clear. Al Jolson, a white
performer of blues, jazz, and ragtime, was paid
$10,000 per record by his record label, Brunswick,
in 1924. In contrast, African American superstars
Bessie Smith (who recorded with Columbia) and
Paramount’s “Ma” Rainey received at most $200
per record—two percent of what Jolson was paid.
—Jessica Reese