WeeklySA_AdminREPOSITORY: Powerful and thought-provoking play delves into themes of family history, legacy, and struggles to reconcile with a painful past…
By Funeka Bambalele
Artistic director of Joburg City Theatres, James Ngcobo has been threatening for a while to stage a show called “The Piano Lesson”.
In 2025, the show by American playwright August Wilson, finally saw the day. Known as “August Wilson’s Piano Lesson”, the show opened at Nelson Mandela Stage inside the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein on Friday last week – to a full house.
The cast has stars like Lerato Mvelase, Pakamisa Zwedala, Boitumelo Lesejane, Katlego Chale, Thokozani Nzima, Vaneshran Arumugam, and Warren Masemola who all shone on the day.
The powerful and thought-provoking play which was produced in 1987 delves into themes of family history, legacy, and the struggle to reconcile with a painful past.
The action takes place in Pittsburgh in 1936 at the house of a family of African Americas who have migrated from Mississippi.
The storyline is all about a family clashing over an heirloom piano. The battle between brother Boy Willie (played by Katlego Chale) and sister Bernice (played by Lerato Mvelase)— one hopes to sell it, the other refuses to give it up — unleashes haunting truths about how the past is perceived and who defines a family legacy. The Charles Family is in possession of a generational heirloom, an upright piano engraved with the faces of their ancestors.
The piano itself in the show is a tangible representation of the family’s complex history with slavery. The instrument, once exchanged by the family’s white master for two enslaved ancestors, is now inherited by siblings Boy Willie and Bernice.
Bernice, determined to preserve the piano as a symbol of their painful history under slavery, clashes with Boy Willie, whose vision for the future involves selling it to buy land and secure financial freedom. This emotional tug-of-war encapsulates a broader, universal struggle between holding on to the past and embracing the future.
Their opposing viewpoints on the piano’s fate become the central conflict. Boy Willie sees the piano as a means to a better future, believing that selling it will provide him with the capital to buy the land his ancestors once worked. Bernice, however, views the piano as a sacred object, a connection to her family’s past and a repository of their suffering. Beyond the central conflict over the piano, Wilson zooms in on some of the characters to make the point.
Doaker (played by Pakamisa Zwedala), the family’s wise uncle and the voice of reason, serves as a grounding force, anchoring the drama in the realities of their lives. Wining Boy (played by Vaneshran Arumugam), the eccentric and enigmatic uncle who embodies the blues spirit, adds a layer of mysticism and highlights the enduring power of music as a source of solace and connection to the past. And Avery (played by Thokozani Nzima), the young preacher courting Bernice, represents a different element to healing and a potential for a brighter, more stable future.
Wilson skilfully uses the piano as a conduit to explore the psychological and emotional impact of slavery on generations of African Americans. The carvings on the instrument, depicting the family’s history, serve as a constant reminder of their ancestors’ struggles and sacrifices.
Through this act of resistance, Bernice reclaims her family’s history and affirms their right to define their own future, transforming the piano from a symbol of oppression into a testament to their resilience and enduring spirit.
Wilson’s language is lyrical and evocative, capturing the rhythms and nuances of African American vernacular in the 1930s. Bringing this story closer to home, the land issue is still an unsolved and debatable issue that has caused tensions between blacks and whites.
* August Wilson’s Piano Lesson continues at Joburg Theatre until this Sunday
