Joe turner's Come and Gone - Center Stage

Call and Response:
Q&A with Production Dramaturg Faedra Chatard Carpenter
CENTERSTAGE: What makes August
Wilson’s works relevant today
Faedra Chatard Carpenter: Although Wilson
is often noted for work that addresses
African American culture through a historic
lens (the plays in his “decade-cycle” are set
between the years of 1904 and 1997), his
plays dramatize issues that are still very
relevant to our contemporary moment. The
beauty of Wilson’s dramaturgy is that there
are particular topics and concerns that he
consistently visits (and revisits) throughout
the breadth of his canon. Themes such as
slavery and imprisonment, religion and
spirituality, music and creative expression,
male/female relationships, gentrification
and entrepreneurship, and communal
allegiance and betrayal are filtered
throughout the work, thereby revealing
how much has—and has not—changed in
the course of each succeeding decade. In so
doing, Wilson’s decade cycle offers us the
opportunity to celebrate our progress as
well as consider what issues still demand
our critical attention.
CS: What is August Wilson telling African
Americans about themselves
FCC: While Wilson focuses on African
American characters and cultural
experiences in his plays, I think it’s
important to note that his work isn’t
strictly for African Americans. Rather,
Wilson’s plays carry with them messages
and meaning for those within as well as
outside of the African diaspora. Like the
celebrated African American visual artist
Romare Bearden—whom Wilson often
referred to as a major influence on his own
writing—Wilson’s work reflects the belief
that: 1) African American life and culture
are worthy of attention and affirmation;
and 2) One can explore “the universal”
through the specific, meaning that the
commonalities among all people can be
powerfully articulated through the lens of
a particular community.
With that being said, however, I do
believe that a major message for African
Americans in Wilson’s plays is to “know
thyself.” Part of this is about knowing and
appreciating your past: understanding
the obstacles overcome by those that
came before you as well as recognizing
the wealth of your culture and the
contributions it has made to society-atlarge.
The other part of this, however, is to
really know yourself as an individual within
the community collective. August Wilson’s
work portrays families and communities,
but—like all good drama—he explores the
various worldviews and disparities that
distinguish characters from one another. By
dramatizing these different perspectives,
Wilson often proposes two distinct ways
of thinking, both of which have compelling
points. Although we can usually deduce
which way is “right,” it’s never cut-anddried,
thereby encouraging all audience
members to consider how they would
position themselves within a like situation.
CS: Why do you view him as one of
the most important African American
playwrights of the 20 th Century
FCC: Wilson is certainly acknowledged
as one of the most important African
American playwrights of the 20 th Century,
but—even more significantly—he’s one of
the most important American playwrights
of the 20 th Century. The timelessness of
his plays, their poetic lyricism, memorable
characters, and substantive subject
matter—all of these things make Wilson
an exceptional dramatist. But there’s more:
Wilson’s decade cycle is an unprecedented
and tremendous feat not only because he
actually completed it, but because of the
consistent quality of the work.
Furthermore, Wilson’s work opened the
doors for so many artists—directors,
designers, actors—whose talents were
finally witnessed and acknowledged due to
their exposure through an August Wilson
play. Likewise, innumerable playwrights
of color were finally given a chance at a
“mainstream” theater because Wilson’s
broad acceptance demonstrated that
there would be a wider audience for their
work. So, it’s not an exaggeration to say
that August Wilson changed the landscape
of American Theater: in terms of both
the dramatic literary canon and theater
practice and production.•
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