Guest posting: 'Radio Golf' in Pittsburgh

August Wilson’s “Radio Golf” is playing at TheatreWorks, with a review in tomorrow’s Weekly. But it’s also just opened in Pittsburgh, where the play takes place. Weekly reader Ron Evans (my significant other) was at the Pittsburgh Public Theater production on opening night. He writes a guest posting about what it was like to be in the enthusiastic audience:

It's been said that one of the best ways to understand a foreign place is to experience its food. From Chicago's deep-dish pizza to the war between Gino's and Pat's cheesesteak establishments in Philadelphia, you can really get the flavor of a city (pun intended) from the local menu. But I think the pulse of a city is in the arts. While in Pittsburgh, Penn., last weekend for a conference, I was invited to attend a production of August Wilson's play “Radio Golf.”

I wasn't particularly a fan of August Wilson, not by choice, but just from a lack of experience with his work. I didn't know that he wrote a series of 10 plays on the African-American experience in the 20th century. And I certainly wasn't sure if I wanted to pay $50 to see a play I didn't know. I was on the edge. It was either this or an art gallery reception. It was the enthusiasm of my friend Brendan that got me to buy my ticket.

Boy, was I glad I did.

It was opening night, and we got a couple of seats in the balcony, stage right. The theater was gorgeous: not a bad seat in the house (as you can see from my iPhone snapshot), and the set was amazing. The curtain announcer quieted the house down and told us that we were about to see August Wilson's last play in the series, in one of only four theaters in the world to do all 10 of his works. The crowd, an equal mixture of blacks and whites, applauded approvingly, and the tale began.

The story centers on Harmond Wilks, candidate to be the first African-American mayor of Pittsburgh. His candidacy is strong, and his spirits are high that he'll be able to make changes in the lives of the city's people. But events make him question his own beliefs, and he ultimately is forced to decide what he is willing to give up to hold true to them.

Set in Pittsburgh, the play is full of local callouts to various neighborhoods and icons. The audience loved it. They were occasionally vocal, voicing agreement along with the actors as they said their lines ("Isn't that the truth!"), and I felt a love and pride for the work of the playwright flow from the audience. It must have felt incredible to the actors. As an actor, I know you can't ask for a better audience. They are proud of August Wilson there, and for good reason. As I sat in my seat and looked around at the audience, I appreciated that many have fought and died just to make such diversity in a theater possible. Mr. Wilson helped to make it possible with his pen.

In the end, a standing ovation well deserved. And a new fan of August Wilson, a touch of the flavor of Pittsburgh, and a better understanding of one playwright's view on the African-American experience. Mr. Wilson passed away in 2005, so this is the last play in the series. In the lobby afterwards, I heard sadness that there wouldn't be any more new plays. It made me appreciate the work even more.

So I have two new goals. One, to see all 10 plays in the series. The second, to inspire somebody else to experience their first August Wilson play. Thanks, Brendan; I'll "pay it forward."You have your chance here at TheatreWorks. And you can drive to Berkeley Rep and see one of the other nine works, “Joe Turner's Come And Gone.” Perhaps I'll see you in line.