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August Wilson Radio Golf Analysis

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Recommended: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson

August Wilson’s Radio Golf, the last installment of his ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle, explores the evolution of the past and the present in regards to the history and culture of the African American race. Radio Golf, as well as the rest of his plays in the cycle are very heavily influenced by Wilson’s background as an African-American growing up in the Hill district of Pittsburgh. His experiences shaped the portrayal of the lives of the African-American characters in his plays. However, Wilson’s approach to depicting history through his work is quite different; his style is very unique. Wilson’s main concern as it pertained to his craft, was that the emotional strife, passion, and culture of the black race was evident. Rather, he felt his work …show more content…

Harry J. Elam’s novel, The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson, includes a very intricately written introduction section entitled, (W)righting History: A Meditation in Four Beats, that analyzes Wilson’s personal writing style. Wilson is quoted stating, “Despite my interest in history, I have always been more concerned with culture, and while my plays have an overall historical feel, their settings are fictions, and they are peopled with invented characters whose personal histories fit within the historical context in which they live” (Wilson qtd. in Elam). It is evident that Wilson exclusively requires a historical context in order to pay tribute to African American culture that has previously been ignored. Perhaps, in Radio Golf it is hard for members of the Hill District to allow for this type of change to their culture in the form of gentrification, when they as a people and a culture were never recognized or accepted for who they were before. How can a community move forward, when they were never allowed to properly settle into their

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Wrede in her essay on the cultural consciousness in August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Wrede locates this double consciousness in the migration of African Americans from the South to the North where they encountered disappointments and frustration born of the similar experiences of race they thought they were leaving behind. The chapter attempts to contextualize and chronicle the experience of these recent transplants to their new location using play as a sounding board for the analysis that focus these essentially displaced people to negotiate new social relations and new lives in an often unfriendly and unwelcoming environment.

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This is a problem. It’s important to remember the past. Even if you’re not African American, there’s something to gain from the play. We all have a cultural heritage, and we should be aware of where we all came from. This play is taken place in Pittsburgh in 1937, but we have gone a long way since the time of slavery and segregation.

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August Wilson’s playwright Joe Turner Come and Gone emphasizes many fundamental issues within African-Americans, specifically the black males. In those days, the black man stood to lose themselves. August sent an extraordinary suggestion. The idea of the character Bynum only filled the play with all of his wise talk. August reflects on his secret of life by bringing it forward, allowing an audience to see Harold breaking free of what enslaved him, and the beginning of embracing his self-identity, self-worth and self-efficacy.

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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Or: A Closer Look At The Form and Construction Of Storytelling To The Tune Of The Blues Throughout history, many cultures have passed down stories through oral tradition. Though the manner in which spoken word is delivered has changed over time, the fundamental core of the timeless tradition has stayed the same; Words have power. They can be used to spread joy, hope, and keep entire cultures alive. August Wilson’s play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, focuses on the power of the blues to tell the stories of numerous African-American individuals, as they struggle to find meaning and justice in an unfair society dominated by a hateful majority.

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