It was a glorious Sunday night in August to see August Wilson’s words performed outdoors.
In this case, the play was the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Fences,” the first of three of Wilson’s works being produced this month by Pittsburgh Playwrights as part of its August Wilson’s American Century Cycle Experience. Considering Sunday night’s show, they’re batting one for three so far.
The very intentional sense of place provided by the backdrop of the August Wilson House makes this production even more powerful. “Fences” takes place within a backyard in the Hill District, and seeing as Wilson grew up in that very Bedford Avenue home, one has to think that he pictured that fictional backyard to look, well, very much like the exact one where the audience sits…