The Piano Lesson–A Cacophony
Adapted from August Wilson’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Piano Lesson (2024) opens with Mississippi slaver Robert Sutter (David Atkinson) trading two enslaved brothers for a piano to give to his wife at the onset of the Civil War. Fast forward to 1911 and brother Charles (Stephan James) steals the piano from enslaver Sutter’s grandson James and dies as a result. Now 1936, set in Philadelphia, another Charles,– Uncle Charles– and his brother, Uncle Doaker (Samuel Jackson) tolerate their niece and nephew–Boy Willie (John David Washington) and his sister Bernie...