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AugustWilson.net

Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles
Through Sept. 18

With "Radio Golf" (set in the 1990s), August Wilson concludes his monumental 10-play cycle chronicling 100 years of black struggle in the Hill District, a Pittsburgh ghetto. Much like the other plays in the cycle, "Radio Golf" is a rich, carefully wrought human tapestry that is colorful, playful, thoughtful and compelling.

Starting with "Gem of the Ocean" (set in the 1900s), the black American playwright has taken the black experience in America, step by step, play by play, to its ultimate conclusion in "Radio Golf" (a West Coast premiere at the Mark Taper Forum), which confronts the American dream in a Hill District that is now suffering from decay and blight.

All is set in an efficient white office space that has been carved out of an empty tenement. While the space -- the offices of Bedford Hills Redevelopment Inc. -- is teeming with life and energy, the rest of the building is in a state of decay. Credit David Gallo for the gripping scenic design, Susan Hilferty for the authentic costumes, Jon Gottlieb for the sound and Kenny Leon for the sensitive, savvy direction.

Over the decades, Wilson has carefully built to his conclusion in "Radio Golf" on whether a member of the black middle class would finally break through and leave the Hill behind. And the answer -- in typical Wilson fashion -- is both yes and no.

Harmond Wilks (the wonderful Rocky Carroll), "Radio Golf's" hero, is a well-to-do realtor, a Cornell graduate, on the verge of becoming Pittsburgh's first black mayor. He is all energy and optimism about the future of the Hill District. With his partner, Roosevelt Hicks (a first-class portrayal by James A. Williams), a bank vp also on the fast track to power and wealth, he wants to demolish parts of the Hill District and, with government assistance, build apartments. In addition, Hicks wants to teach black slum children how to play golf as a way of getting ahead in a white man's world.

Only it's not all that easy as the past comes back to thwart their plans. At first it's streetwise Sterling Johnson (John Earl Jelks) and then the cantankerous, nefarious Elder Joseph Barlow (Anthony Chisholm), who holds a deed to Aunt Ester's house, which is smack in the middle of the proposed project. Both Jelks and Chisholm are absolutely masterful as Ghosts of Christmas past -- in this case "Two Trains Running" (set in the '60s) and two descendants of characters in "Gem of the Ocean." And things have to be sorted out.

Ultimately, the struggle is between the aspiring Wilks and Hicks. While Hicks sees no problem in fronting for a white investor, Wilks realizes that assimilation still comes at a price and the rules of the games are still uncertain and ever changing.

Credit Denise Burse with a fine portrayal as Mame Wilks, the bemused, loving wife of Harmond.

Radio Golf
Presented by Center Theatre Group/Music Center of Los Angeles County and Mark Taper Forum
Credits:
Playwright: August Wilson
Director: Kenny Leon
Scenic designer: David Gallo
Costume designer: Susan Hilferty
Lighting designer: Donald Holder
Sound designer: Jon Gottlieb
Cast:
Mame Wilks: Denise Burse
Harmond Wilks: Rocky Carroll
Roosevelt Hicks: James A. Williams
Sterling Johnson: John Earl Jelks
Elder Joseph Barlow: Anthony Chisholm

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