Tattle Tales

THE BLACK EUGENE O’NEILL: That would be the great African-American playwright August Wilson, the Poet Laureate of Pittsburgh whose plays about the black experience in the Smoky City section called the Hill started decades ago with such dramatic hits as "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom," "Joe Turner’s Come And Gone, "The Piano Lesson" and "Fences." The last two mentioned each won the Pulitzer Prize.

Now as part of Wilson’s plan to delineate African–American life of this century decade by decade he’s turned out "King Hedley II," which opened last week to affirmative reviews at the Virginia Theatre on Broadway. This is the eighth in an epic cycle of 10 plays designed to span the 20th century. "King Hedley II," is a sequel to Wilson’s last dramatic effort, "Seven Guitars." With two more plays to go to complete the series (Wilson I hear is already at work on number nine, it’s no wonder his work has been compared with the epic American play series penned by Eugene O’Neill long before Wilson’s advent.

Set during the Reagan Administration years, follow "Hedley II" is "Seven Guitars," set in 1948, after World War II. In that play, the first King Hedley, killed a jazz guitarist and hid the body. In the new play, the younger Hedley (Brian Stokes Mitchell) is a small-time crook just out of jail after serving an eight-year term for murder. This for Mitchell is a far cry from his previous long running starring role in the Broadway smash, "Kiss Me Kate." This time, playing the title role, Mitchell, despite his beautiful baritone, doesn’t have to sing a note as Hedley II. He must learn to survive while living with his wife, Tonya (Viola Davis) in the house of his mother, Ruby (Leslie Uggams, another gifted singer). Other links with the past are the religious fanatic, Stool Pigeon (Stephen Henderson) and Elmore Robinson (Charles Brown) a gambler and a former lover of Ruby, a parade of colorful characters who contribute to the duration of the three-hour play. If nothing else, you do get your money’s worth at the Virginia Theatre, which has hosted its share of 90-minute one-acts.

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