HSSU Players to present Pulitzer prize winner August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson - Feb. 25-27

(St. Louis, MO) - The Harris-Stowe State University Players will present The Piano Lesson, February 25-27, at 8 p.m. with a student matinee on February 26, at 10 a.m. in Harris-Stowe State University’s Emerson Performance Center’s Bank of America Theatre.
With February being Black History Month, this play couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. Set in 1936 Pittsburgh, The Piano Lesson is centered on an 137-year-old piano and what to do with the historic piece. As the Charles family argues about the future of the instrument, their family’s ties to slavery come to the forefront, along with the former owner of the piano who enslaved their ancestors. Playwright August Wilson won his second Pulitzer Prize for this play.
Director of the play and HSSU Humanities Instructor Gregory Carr said, “Wilson, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for drama, is virtually unknown to the African-American community at large. Hopefully this production will stir up interest in his considerable body of work and promote discussion.”
HSSU students will portray the following leading roles: Ryan Cunningham (“Boy Willie”), Carisa McGraw (“Bernice”), Napoleon Williams III (“Doaker”), Jeremy Mitchell (“Lymon”) and Stephen Sanders (“Wining Boy”).  
Tickets for the evening shows cost $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors with a valid ID. Tickets for the student matinee cost $5. For tickets, please call Director Carr at (314) 340-3667 or Director of Speech and Theater Beverly Brennan at (314) 340-5975.