Mark Clayton Southers

Playwright, Musician, Composer Ernest McCarty (1941-2025)

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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.)

Review: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

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August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the third play in his American Century Cycle, is set in a 1927 Chicago recording studio where the “Mother of the Blues” battles for control of her art while her band wrestles with ambition, regret, and survival. Ashley Renee Southers, in her directorial debut, captures Wilson’s layered examination of exploitation, race, and creative power. The Quartet of musicians—Charles Timbers (Cutler), Dave Minnifield (Toledo), Rich Dixon (Slow Drag), and Dionysius Akim (Levee)—forms the play’s backbone. Each actor contributes nuance, but Akim’s fiery, restless Levee dominates, his bravado masking wounds that erupt with tragic force. Minnifield’s Toledo grounds the ensemble with weary wisdom.

Reviews of 2 Plays Running – August Wilson’s ‘Two Trains Running’ and ‘Fences’ – in Pittsburgh Playwrights’ Historic Experience

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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.

VIDEO CHAT: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company Launches 3-Play August Wilson Experience in Hill District

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VIDEO: onStage Pittsburgh’s Sharon Eberson chats with the directors of the 3-play August Wilson American Century Cycle Experience – Terrence Spivey, Ashley Southers and Mark Clayton Southers – on the set of ‘Two Trains Running,’ at Madison Art Center, which will also present ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ in a new cabaret space. Pittsburgh Playwrights’ annual outdoor production at the August Wilson House is the Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘Fences.’

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