It’s a family affair for the upcoming adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.
Netflix has announced that Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington will star in the upcoming film adaptation of August Wilson’s classic play, The Piano Lesson. Both Jackson and Washington recently finished a run of The Piano Lesson on Broadway, which was also Jackson’s second time working on the play.
The film will also feature Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, and Corey Hawkins in a star-studded ensemble.
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The film will mark the feature directorial and screenwriting debut of Malcolm Washington. The screenplay was adapted by Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington, and will be executive produced by Constanza Romero, Jennifer Roth, and Katia Washington.
The reason we said it was a family affair is because Malcolm and Katia are the younger siblings of John David. And this project is the latest in a series of stage-to-screen adaptations of Wilson’s plays from producers Denzel Washington and Todd Black.
According to Netflix’s synopsis: “At the heart of the story stands the ornately carved upright piano which, as the Charles family’s prized, hard-won possession, has been gathering dust in the parlor of Berniece Charles’s Pittsburgh home. When Boy Willie, Berniece’s exuberant brother, bursts into her life with his dream of buying the same Mississippi land that his family had worked as slaves, he plans to sell their antique piano for the hard cash he needs to stake his future. But Berniece refuses to sell, clinging to the piano as a reminder of the history that is their family legacy. This dilemma is the real “piano lesson,” reminding us that blacks are often deprived both of the symbols of their past and of opportunity in the present.”
The film is part of Wilson’s famed 10-play “American Century Cycle,” which also includes Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Fences was directed and starred in by Denzel Washington, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was produced by Todd Black for Netflix. Both films received critical acclaim and several Academy Award nominations.
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Jackson and Washington recently finished a run of The Piano Lesson on Broadway, consisting of 27 previews and 124 regular performances, which became the highest-grossing Wilson production ever to grace Broadway and the highest-grossing revival of a play on the Great White Way this season. The Piano Lesson has a rich history in theater, having won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1990 Tony Award for Best Play. The upcoming film adaptation is highly anticipated by fans of the play and Wilson’s works.
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