WELCOME

Eyring Salter

HIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, SAMUEL L. JACKSON ORIGINATED THE ROLE OF BOY WILLIE IN THE INAUGURAL production of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at Yale Repertory Theatre. Last year, he returned to the play under LaTanya Richardson Jackson’s direction, as she became the first woman to direct Wilson’s work on Broadway. In between these notable firsts, the Jacksons have forged astonishing careers on stage and screen, from Samuel L. Jackson’s portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. in Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop to LaTanya Richardson Jackson’s Tony-nominated turn as Lena Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. We are overjoyed to honor their contributions to the theatre ecology and their many-faceted legacies with you tonight.

Legacy is a major theme of The Piano Lesson, as it is for all of August Wilson’s iconic American Century Cycle of plays. The play’s themes are more urgent than ever, for within the Charles family’s arguments over whether to sell the complicated inheritance of their piano, we can see our country’s current battles over which version of our national story to tell. As Wilson himself noted, “Theater, as a powerful conveyer of human values, has often led us through the impossible landscape of American class, regional, and racial conflicts, providing fresh insights and fragile but enduring bridges of fruitful dialogue.”

TCG was honored to work closely with August Wilson on the hardcover boxed set of his American Century Cycle. The plays are an essential part of TCG Books’ wide-ranging list, which, with the upcoming publication of James Ijames’ Fat Ham, now includes 19 winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. TCG Books is the largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature in North America, among the few committed to the life-long careers of our playwrights, who include: Annie Baker, Nilo Cruz, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Larissa FastHorse, Athol Fugard, Danai Gurira, Quiara Alegría Hudes, David Henry Hwang, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tony Kushner, Young Jean Lee, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, Heidi Schreck, Stephen Sondheim, and Paula Vogel, among many others.

Each of these authors are, in their own way, expanding the canon of dramatic literature to make room for the multiplicities of our national story. Yet too often, when young people seek these plays at their schools and public libraries, they cannot find them. That’s why TCG’s One Million Books Campaign will make at least one million TCG plays available to schools, university and public libraries, independent bookstores, and more over the next ten years. By joining us tonight, you’re supporting that campaign, and ensuring that everyone can find their experiences truly reflected on our country’s stages and pages. You’re also supporting all of TCG’s programs, from our advocacy at the federal level to our national convenings to our COVID-19 responsive webinars and so much more.

Thank you for joining us tonight as we celebrate the Jacksons’ artistry and impact, and support our theatres and theatremakers in envisioning a more just and thriving story for our country and world.

Teresa Eyring Nikkole Salter Executive Director/CEO Chair, TCG Board of Directors