Tribute to August Wilson, American Playwright

August Wilson was an American playwright best known for his extraordinary cycle of 10 plays that chronicle the 20th century African American experience. Each play is set in a different decade and collectively became known as the American Century Cycle. “Put them all together,” Wilson once said, “and you have a history.”

      No one except perhaps Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams has aimed so high and achieved so much in the American theater as August Wilson.  What made him America’s greatest living playwright—aside from his gift of dialogue, which blends searing poetry with uncompromising realism— is the bracing humanism with which he provides insight into the struggles and aspirations of all individuals.

The Rockford Reader’s Theatre, coordinated and directed by Dorothy Paige-Turner, will pay homage to Wilson by performing scenes and monologues from his 10-play cycle, interspersed with songs from the decades that further enhance the storytelling. Players for this…