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.
Two Trains Running
VIDEO CHAT: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company Launches 3-Play August Wilson Experience in Hill District
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.’
New 3-Play 2025 Festival Brings ‘Two Trains Running,’ ‘Fences,’ ‘Ma Rainey’ to the Hill District in August
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.”
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre’s 2025 Season Boasts ‘Two Trains Running,’ ‘Sanctified’ Musical and a Play by Mark Southers
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 ›
Review: ‘Two Trains Running’ by August Wilson at the Pittsburgh Public Theater
By Bob Hoover After The Piano Lesson, the 1986 play that earned August Wilson his second Pulitzer Prize, he was ready to move on to the next chapter in his Pittsburgh cycle. The inspiration would be this line: “Then I… Read More ›
Emeka Learned What He Learned from August Wilson, on His Way to ‘Two Trains Running’ at Pittsburgh Public
By Sharon Eberson Justin Emeka had the determination to do things his way, along with the insight to seek advice from a giant of American theater. So it was natural that the fledgling director would seize every opportunity to speak… Read More ›
