Writer Ty Greenwood and Director Maurice Redwood Connect on Work Inspired by James Baldwin By SHARON EBERSON Few works on Pittsburgh stages have deeper roots within the city limits than Ty Greenwood’s Paradox of Education, directed by Maurice Redwood, and… Read More ›
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company has revealed a four-play 2026 season, including a premiere by award-winning playwright a.k. payne, while also co-hosting a unique international take on August Wilson’s Jitney. The four-play season of premieres — Ty Greenwood’s “The Paradox of Education,” “10,000 Rides” by Cynthia Dallas, “Fishy Woo Woo, Part 2” by Monteze Freeland, and “BURNBABYBURN: an american dream by a.k. payne — plus two add-on productions was curated by Monteze Freeland. Next year, the two add-ons to the season are the Italian translation of “Jitney” and the return of “A Dinah Washington Christmas.”
A Dinah Washington Christmas, a combination of beloved Christmas songs, a celebration of the “Queen of the Blues,” and nod to the jazz heritage of the Hill District, had its debut on Thursday in the festively decked out cabaret space at Madison Arts Center. The show on opening night was held up for a short time, in anticipation of the arrival of the playwright, Ernest McCarty. Mark Clayton Southers, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s founder and artistic director, learned later of the passing that night of Mr. McCarty, 84. (Condolences to the McCarty family and friends. Details to come.)
This is the sixth edition of oSP’s Call Board, as we continue to explore fresh ways to share what’s happening across the Greater Pittsburgh performing arts scene. On Tuesday, we published our annual season roundup — more than 200 events… Read More ›
Mark Clayton Southers kicked off opening night of Two Trains Running by announcing that everyone present was now a part of history: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company was about complete a second round of all 10 plays in the August Wilson American Century Cycle. As history-making goes, Saturday was a night of two plays running in the Hill District, where Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson spent his formative years, and where he set nine of his plays, one in each decade of the 20th century, about the Black American experience. Two Trains Running, representing the late 1960s, a time when the Civil Rights Movements and Black Power were in full swing, is at Madison Arts Center in the Upper Hill, through August 30, 2025. Fences, set in 1957, can be seen outdoors in the Lower Hill, at the August Wilson House, through September 6, 2025.
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company and the August Wilson House have made it official, setting the schedule for a 2025 three-play summer festival, titled August Wilson’s American Century Cycle Experience. with Stephen McKinley Henderson scheduled to direct “Fences.”
NEW 3-PLAY SUMMER FESTIVAL WILL HONOR AUGUST WILSON A newly minted three-play festival, titled the August Wilson American Century Cycle Experience, will run for six weeks this summer, said Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s Mark Clayton Southers, offering a sneak peek… Read More ›
By SHARON EBERSON Change is in the air at Easy Piney Grove Baptist Church, and for longtime parishioners, nothing good can come of it. Uncompromising, disapproving elders and rebellious youth in a dwindling congregation are among the woes weighing on… Read More ›
The Star of ‘The Oval’ Directs His Own Work for Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company By SHARON EBERSON Even with rehearsals underway, Javon Johnson is still surprised that Sanctified is making its first appearance on a Pittsburgh stage. He chalks up… Read More ›
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company has announced three 2025 productions, including Two Trains Running, which will “be presented as part of a planned festival of August Wilson plays, taking place at Madison Arts Center, August Wilson House and the August Wilson… Read More ›
