PLAY GUIDE

Sept. 1–202015

502.584.1205 actorstheatre.org

SEVENGUITARSdirected by Colman Domingo

AUGUST WILSON’S

IN THIS PLAY GUIDE

AUGUST WILSON’SSEVEN GUITARS SYNOPSIS AND SETTING

CAST OF CHARACTERS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR THE CENTURY CYCLE GLOSSARY

WRITING PORTFOLIO AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

BRIDGEWORK

ABOUT THIS PLAY GUIDEThis play guide is a resource designed to enhance your theatre experience. Its goal is twofold: to nurture the teaching and learning of theatre arts, and to encourage essential questions that lead to an enduring understanding of the play’s meaning and relevance. Inside you will find information about the plot and characters within the play, as well as articles that contextualize the play and its production at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Oral discussion and writing prompts encourage your students to reflect upon their impressions, analyze key ideas, and relate them to their personal experiences and the world around them. These prompts can easily be adapted to fit most writing objectives. We encourage you to adapt and extend the material in any way that best fits the needs of your community of learners. We hope this material, combined with our pre-show workshops, will give you the tools to make your time at Actors Theatre a valuable learning experience.

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If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our play guides, please contact Jane B. Jones, Education Director, at 502.584.1265 x3045.

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COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2 Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS

TH.Re7.1 Perceive and analyze artistic work. TH.Re8.1 Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.TH.Re9.1 Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.TH.Cn10.1 Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art. TH.Cn11.1 Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding.

AUGUST WILSON’S SEVEN GUITARS STUDENT MATINEE & THIS PLAY GUIDE ADDRESS SPECIFIC EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES:

316 West Main StreetLouisville, KY 40202-4218

ARTISTIC DIRECTORLes Waters

MANAGING DIRECTORJennifer Bielstein

EDUCATION DIRECTORJane B. Jones

EDUCATION MANAGER Betsy Anne Huggins

EDUCATION ASSOCIATELexy Leuszler

RESIDENT TEACHING ARTISTSJustin Dobring Liz FentressAsha FrenchKeith McGillLetitia UsherKarin Partin Wells

EDUCATION/TEACHING ARTIST INTERNSJes ChildressJenn Oswald

PLAY GUIDE BYBetsy Anne HugginsJane B. JonesJessica ReeseHuy Vo

GRAPHIC DESIGNAmie Villiger

SYNOPSISAfter serving jail time on a trumped-up vagrancy charge, blues musician Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton sets out to win back his girl and reclaim his pawned guitar, hoping to make a new hit record. Set in 1948 in the backyard of a Pittsburgh apartment house, Seven Guitars follows Floyd’s circle of friends and neighbors—the play’s seven voices—as they spin a rich tale of the deck that’s stacked against them, what they’ve lost and all they dream. This lyrical play is part of August Wilson’s Century Cycle, which charts the African-American experience through each decade of the 20th century.

SETTINGAs with all but one of the plays in August Wilson’s Century Cycle, Seven Guitars takes place in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, where Wilson grew up. The Hill District, known simply as “The Hill” to many residents, is a collection of five neighborhoods located in central Pittsburgh at the branching of the Ohio River. It was the cultural center of African-American life in Pittsburgh during its heyday in the 1930s-1950s, though modern gentrification is changing the face of the neighborhood.

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A street scene in the lower Hill District in the 1940s

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CAST OF CHARACTERS

FLOYD “SCHOOLBOY” BARTON is an ambitious blues musician and singer of the hit single “That’s All Right.” He was recently released from jail, where he served 90 days for vagrancy. He hopes to convince his bandmates and his former girlfriend, Vera, to return with him to Chicago to pursue his musical career.

VERA DOTSON is Floyd’s ex-girlfriend. She is reluctant to trust Floyd again after he abandoned her for another woman. She is strong willed and not easily swayed by Floyd’s romance.

CANEWELL is a quick-tempered harmonica player and one of Floyd’s closest friends. After being jailed in Chicago, he is unwilling to return and help Floyd pursue his music career.

RED CARTER is another of Floyd’s closest friends and a drummer in Floyd’s band.

HEDLEY is an older man who rents a room at Louise’s house. His intense spirituality guides his actions and thoughts. He is openly critical and suspicious of the white society that has oppressed him, and despite his tuberculosis, refuses to enter a sanitarium.

LOUISE is the independent and lively landlady of the tenant house where the play takes place. She has given up on romance after her former lover abandoned her; she shies away from Hedley’s romantic advances.

RUBY is Louise’s niece. She arrives at her aunt’s house in the middle of the play. She has come from Alabama to Pittsburgh after two men had a deadly dispute over her.

Playwright August Wilson Photograph provided by Samuel French, Inc.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A BIOGRAPHY OF AUGUST WILSON

August Wilson (April 27, 1945–October 2,2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, JoeTurner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’sBlack Bottom, The Piano Lesson, SevenGuitars, Fences, Two Trains Running,Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf.These works explore the heritage andexperience of the descendants of Africansin North America, decade-by-decade,over the course of the twentieth century,forming the compilation titled THEAMERICAN CENTURY CYCLE. His playshave been produced on Broadway, atregional theatres across the country, andall over the world. In 2003, Mr. Wilsonmade his professional stage debut in hisone-man show, How I Learned What ILearned, currently touring and featuringEugene Lee reprising Mr. Wilson’s role.Mr. Wilson’s works garnered manyawards, including Pulitzer Prizes forFences (1987) and The Piano Lesson(1990); a Tony Award for Fences; GreatBritain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as wellas seven New York Drama Critics CircleAwards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, ThePiano Lesson, Two Trains Running, SevenGuitars and Jitney. Additionally, the castrecording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottomreceived a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr.Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptationof The Piano Lesson. Mr. Wilson’s earlyworks included the one-act plays TheJanitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of theYear, Malcolm X, The Homecoming andthe musical satire Black Bart and the

Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson received manyfellowships and awards, including theRockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowshipsin Playwriting, the Whiting Writers Awardand 2003 Heinz Award. He was awardeda 1999 National Humanities Medal byPresident Bill Clinton, and receivednumerous honorary degrees fromcolleges and universities, as well as theonly high school diploma ever issued bythe Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Hewas an alumnus of New Dramatists, amember of the American Academy ofArts and Sciences, and a 1995 inducteeinto the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005,Broadway renamed the theatre located at245 West 52nd Street The August WilsonTheatre. Today, his plays continue to beproduced, and his place in the Americantheatre continues to grow. New YorkPublic Radio recorded all ten plays in theTHE AMERICAN CENTURY CYCLE at theGreene Space, casting many of the actorswho worked on the original productions.PBS aired a documentary on Mr. Wilsonentitled The Ground On Which I Stand aspart of the American Masters series. Mr.Wilson was born and raised in the HillDistrict of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, andlived in Seattle, Washington, at the timeof his death. He is immediately survivedby his two daughters, Sakina Ansari andAzula Carmen Wilson, and his wife,costume designer Constanza Romero,who is the executor of his estate. -Biography provided by Samuel French, Inc.

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THE CENTURY CYCLE

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GEM OF THE OCEAN (SET IN 1904) Guided by centuries-old sage Aunt Ester, a free man named Citizen journeys into the collective memory of the Middle Passage, the torturous transatlantic voyage to the Americas that newly enslaved Africans were forced to endure. Citizen’s journey into the past is difficult, but it allows him to navigate the no man’s land between slavery—still a living memory at the turn of the century—and freedom.

JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE (1911) This mystical play is set during the Great Migration, when many members of the first generation of African-Americans born free left the agrarian South for the urban North, only to find that prejudice and loss pursued them there. Herald Loomis is on a pilgrimage to find his wife, but the other wanderers he encounters at a Pittsburgh boardinghouse are looking for something too: the sense of identity which slavery stripped from them and their ancestors.

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (1927) A tense recording session on Chicago’s South Side exposes the exploitation of African-American musicians in the white-dominated commercial music industry. Successful, demanding blues singer Ma Rainey battles her producers and her band members, including the talented and ambitious trumpeter Levee. Wilson depicts the psychological consequences of African-American musicians’ struggles for economic and artistic self-determination in the face of racism and a shifting marketplace.

THE PIANO LESSON (1936) Timber cutter Boy Willie travels north from Mississippi to retrieve a piano from his sister, Berniece. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to finance a farm, but Berniece wants to keep it because it is a family heirloom carved with the story of their ancestors, who were slaves. The siblings must decide not only the fate of the piano but also how to come to terms with their family’s painful history.

Each of the ten plays of August Wilson’s Century Cycle—one for each decade of the 20th century—depicts a moment in the African-American experience. Here’s a decade-by-decade guide to Wilson’s groundbreaking work.

With the exception of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, all of the plays take place in Wilson’s home neighborhood, the Hill District of Pittsburgh.

The accompanying photos are from Actors Theatre’s past productions of August Wilson’s Century Cycle.

Pat Bowie as Aunt Ester Tyler in Gem of the Ocean, 2006. Photo by Harlan Taylor.

The cast of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, 2011. Photo by Alan Simons.

Joshua Wolf Coleman and Ray Anthony Thomas in The Piano Lesson, 2001. Photo by Harlan Taylor.

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SEVEN GUITARS (1948) Part murder mystery, part memory play, Seven Guitars depicts the events leading up to the untimely death of Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton, a gifted blues guitarist. Released from jail after serving time for the crime of “worthlessness,” Floyd tries to retrieve his guitar and get to Chicago to make a record. He believes he is on the brink of a career breakthrough, but bad decisions and worse luck prevent him from leaving Pittsburgh.

FENCES (1957) In the backyard of their Pittsburgh home, garbage collector Troy Maxson and his family wrestle with the fallout from his failed baseball career and the betrayal and disappointment stemming from Troy’s pursuit of the American Dream. Wilson explores father-son relationships, marital infidelity, and the dangers of self-delusion in this depiction of the rise and fall of a tragic everyman.

TWO TRAINS RUNNING (1969) Regulars at a soul food diner examine life in the wake of the death of Malcolm X. The Hill District is changing—the diner is for sale, and no one can escape the question of whether or not to assimilate into mainstream white culture. But despite a lack of guarantees in romance, business, or life, the members of the community who stay true to themselves ultimately triumph.

JITNEY (1977) The working-class employees at a community cab company face the government-sanctioned demolition of the abandoned storefront they use as a cab station. The play celebrates the creative, community-oriented survival strategies of an inner-city neighborhood as it copes with the destabilizing effects of the passage of time and the misguided urban renewal policies of the seventies.

KING HEDLEY II (1985) The sequel to Seven Guitars, King Hedley II explores the devastating consequences of African-American disenfranchisement during the boom times of the Reagan administration. Just released from prison, King Hedley plants a garden and joins his community in the search for redemption and security in the midst of confusion, regret, loss, and senseless violence.

RADIO GOLF (1997) Harmond Wilks is an African-American real estate developer whose most lucrative deal yet will require demolishing the house of Aunt Ester, who has presided over the Century Cycle as an embodiment of African-American history. As Harmond considers the deal, he realizes that he will have to choose between honoring his heritage and pursuing financial and political success.

Ernest Perry Jr., Stephanie Berry and Bowman Wright in Fences, 2005. Photo by Harlan Taylor

 Charles Parnell in Jitney, 2002. Photo by Harlan Taylor.

Buddy “King” Bolden

Toussaint L’Ouverture

Joe Louis

Marcus Garvey

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BUDDY BOLDEN: A famous cornet (similar to a trumpet) player, Buddy was nicknamed “King Bolden” by his fans. He dominated the black music scene in turn-of-the-century New Orleans and pioneered ragtime music, an early form of jazz. Bolden was a heavy drinker and suffered from alcoholic psychosis and schizophrenia, which led to his admission to an asylum at age thirty. In Seven Guitars, Hedley’s father comes to him in a dream and prophesies that King Bolden will bring him money to buy a plantation.

JOE LOUIS: An American professional boxer nicknamed “The Brown Bomber,” Louis was the World Heavyweight Champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered one of the best heavyweights of all time. Floyd and the gang listen to his fight with Billy Conn, broadcast from Madison Square Garden.

MARCUS GARVEY: A social activist born in Jamaica in 1887, Garvey was an advocate for Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism, both social movements encouraging blacks to reclaim their ancestral lands in Africa. Hedley is greatly influenced by Marcus Garvey saying he “give me back my voice to speak.” SANITARIUM: A medical facility for patients with long-term or chronic illnesses, most often used to describe a hospital specializing in the treatment of tuberculosis before the advent of antibiotics. Like many public institutions in the 1940s, sanitariums were often segregated, and the one mentioned in the play has just become available to black patients. Hedley gets a letter from the Board of Health ordering him to a sanitarium for treatment of his tuberculosis. Hedley resists, thinking it is a “plot against the black man.” Canewell comments that Hedley is one of the “lucky ones” who can decide if they “want to live or die,” a reference to the many black individuals who died of tuberculosis when they were banned from whites-only sanitariums.

TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE: Born a slave in 1743, L’Ouverture led the Haitian revolution in 1791 against the French colonizers, transforming Haiti from a slave nation to a free nation in 1795. Hedley reminisces about

a teacher who taught him about L’Ouverture, “a black boy who was a man and made the white man run from the blood in the street.” To Hedley, L’Ouverture represents one man who was able to overcome racial injustice and succeed despite his skin color.

TUBERCULOSIS: TB is an infectious disease caused by different strains of bacteria that primarily affects the lungs. The disease is known for its chronic cough, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. When left untreated, tuberculosis kills more than 50% of those infected. Hedley suffers from tuberculosis and is entering a deadly stage in the disease, evidenced by his blood-tinged coughs. Tuberculosis continues to disproportionally affect the black community, with black Americans suffering TB at a rate seven times higher than whites, according to a 2013 report from the Centers for Disease Control.

VAGRANCY: Vagrancy laws in the United States were enacted to prevent the homeless and out of work from moving into a new town, forcing these “vagabonds” to leave town or face prosecution. After the civil war, police utilized the vague language of vagrancy laws to arrest black Americans for crimes such as loitering, drunkenness, and suspected criminal activity without much, if any, evidence. Like Floyd, black men who were unable to pay fines associated with breaking the law were forced to work off their debts in workhouses. In the 1960s, vagrancy laws were challenged in court for violations to the due process requirements of the 14th Amendment. Modern remnants of vagrancy laws can be seen in laws criminalizing homelessness and so-called sit-lie ordinances, laws which prohibit people from sitting or lying in certain public spaces.

WORKHOUSE: Imprisoned persons who were fined in addition to being jailed could fulfill their sentence and pay their fine by working labor-intensive jobs in a workhouse. Prisoners received a small wage for their work after they finished their sentence. Floyd is waiting on his “thirty cents a day for working in the workhouse,” money which he’ll use to buy his guitar out of the pawnshop.

GLOSSARY

WRITING PORTFOLIO

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NARRATIVE: CCRA.W.3Seven Guitars is August Wilson’s 1940s play in his acclaimed Century Cycle. Characters from Seven Guitars appear again in Wilson’s ninth play in the Cycle, King Hedley II, which chronicles the black American experience during the boom years of the 1980s. Read both plays and, using your knowledge of the characters and plots, write a short story or script that fills in the gaps between both plays. What could happen between the events of Seven Guitars before King Hedley II picks up the story again? You may choose to follow a particular character or characters, or instead focus on the Hill District neighborhood as a whole.

ARGUMENTATIVE: CCRA.W.1In 1940s Pittsburgh, the characters of Seven Guitars face a web of systemic racial injustices. From Floyd’s incarceration to Hedley’s illness, the characters in the play are fighting to find meaning and fulfilment despite these systems of oppression. Choose an obstacle facing one of the characters in Seven Guitars (such as vagrancy laws, incarceration, health care in the African-American community, or the stigma of mental illness) and see how it affects the modern African-American community. Write an essay arguing whether this social problem has improved since the 1940s or not, and offer evidence and examples to support your position.

INFORMATIVE: CCRA.W.2Write a review of the performance of Seven Guitars that you saw at Actors Theatre of Louisville. What parts of the play (the actors’ performances, the set, props, costumes, lighting and sound design, etc.) were your favorites and why? How effective were these elements in telling the story? Back up your claims with evidence and details from your experience of watching the performance. Then, make a copy and send it to the education department at

Actors Theatre of Louisville c/o Jane B. Jones316 West Main StreetLouisville, Kentucky 40202

We will share your thoughts with the creative team.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

PRE-SHOW QUESTIONS1. Seven Guitars is not a musical, but like much of

August Wilson’s work, the blues are a key element in the story. How do you think music will be used in this production?

2. At the beginning of the play, Floyd Barton’s friends have come together to mourn his untimely death. The play moves back in time to show the events that led to his death. How do you expect knowing a main character dies will affect how you view the show?

POST-SHOW QUESTIONS1. Seven Guitars is rich in repeated imagery and

symbolism. As a class, discuss some of the motifs in the play, such as the number seven, moving away for freedom, and roosters. What do you think these symbols mean? How did August Wilson use these images to influence your experience of Seven Guitars?

2. Were you surprised at how Floyd Barton was killed? Why or why not? How was foreshadowing used in the play, and how did the unraveling of the mystery affect your understanding of Floyd’s death?

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BRIDGEWORK

AT YOUR DESK 1. Directors, dramaturgs, and designers often use image

boards to understand more about the “world” of a play: how it looks and sounds, and what significant events happen. As a class or in large groups, create three image boards using pictures and text to represent three time periods. One board will represent the 1940s and the era of Seven Guitars, one will represent our modern era, and the final image board will represent the years between Seven Guitars and 2015. In selecting images and text, work together to create boards that encompass both the African-American experience during that time as well as other significant historical events or movements. Examine the artwork you’ve created and analyze the timeline; what changed between the 1940s and the present? What has stayed the same? If you made an image board for 2040, what would it look like, and what changes would need to be made to reach that goal?

2. Like many of August Wilson’s plays, Seven Guitars is influenced by the blues. Listen to some of the popular hits of the 1940s by artists like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, both of whom were working in Chicago during the time that Floyd would have been active. Take note of the themes and rhythms of the music. Now, using lyrics from your favorite modern songs, remix the lyrics to write your own blues tune (for an added challenge use lyrics from just one song; feel free to rearrange and repeat if necessary). Do you notice any similarities between the music you listen to today and the blues hits of the past? What will you need to do to reshape today’s music to create an older sound?

AWAY FROM YOUR DESK 1. Floyd Barton spends the majority of the play trying to

convince his friends and former girlfriend to return with him to Chicago, with mixed results. Brainstorm a moment in your life when you had to convince someone to do something they were reluctant to do. Did it work? What strategies and tactics did you use to try to convince them? With a partner, improvise a scene where you try to persuade your partner to agree with your way of thinking. How did your partner respond to different strategies? Are these strategies the same as the ones Floyd Barton utilizes in Seven Guitars, or did you find other ways to persuade your partner?

2. Dreams, both literal and metaphorical, are a powerful force in Seven Guitars. From Hedley’s dream of his deceased father promising money to Floyd’s hopes of musical stardom, every character dreams of a better life for themselves. In groups, brainstorm a goal that you have in common, from attending college to traveling the world. Create a series of three tableaus (still images created using your body like a living statue) that encapsulate this dream. How does the goal change or grow from the beginning seeds of the idea, to the end where you have achieved the goal? Is it what you expected? What are the steps needed to achieve this goal?