August Wilson's King Hedley II
Full Length Play, Drama / 4m, 2f
Finalist! 2000 Pulitzer Prize in Drama
"Grand [with] some of the finest monologues ever written for an American stage, speeches that build gritty, often brutal details into fiery patterns of insight.... You may feel the scorch of lightning."
Read more +August Wilson's King Hedley II
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Cast Size
4m, 2fAccolades
Tony, Pulitzer, From Broadway, From Off-BroadwayTarget Audience
- Adult
Additional Info
Accolades
Finalist! 2000 Pulitzer Prize in Drama
August Wilson is the recipient of the 1986 Whiting Award for Drama.
Reviews
REVIEWS
"Grand [with] some of the finest monologues ever written for an American stage, speeches that build gritty, often brutal details into fiery patterns of insight.... You may feel the scorch of lightning." - The New York Times
"Mesmerizing.... Full of powerful images that convey the darkly comic dialogue between hope and hopelessness in African American life." - N.Y. Daily News
"Exhilarating.... Wilson has endowed his struggling souls with a metaphysical grandeur and a titanic vigor of language that is like no other dramatist's. He takes the idea of tragedy and the common man to Olympian heights ... [and] boldly tackles the big philosophical questions most contemporary playwrights shrink from. He articulates these questions with grounding, often witty detail and in an inner city vernacular that soars into both unabashed lyricism and earthy anecdote.... There is no denying the transporting, natural music of Hedley and phrases from it haunt the memory." - The New York Times
Considerations
Performing Groups
- College Theatre / Student
- Community Theatre
- Professional Theatre
License details
- Minimum Fee: $100 per performance
Production
Details
- Time Period: 1980s
- Setting: Pittsburgh, the Hill District, 1985. The backyards of a row of three houses.
Casting
4m, 2fRUBY – King’s mother, former big band singer who recently moved back to Pittsburgh. Sixties.
MISTER – King’s best friend since grade school and sometimes business partner. Thirties.
ELMORE – Ruby’s longtime, but sporadic flame. A professional hustler. Sixties.
TONYA – King’s wife of a few years. Thirties.
STOOL PIGEON – King’s next-door neighbor. The Hill’s spiritual and practical truthsayer. Late sixties.
Cast Attributes
- Role(s) for Black Actor(s)
Community Experiences