Piano Lesson, The

Piano Lesson, The (1990), a play by August Wilson. [Walter Kerr Theatre, 329 perf.; Pulitzer Prize, NYDCC Award.] Boy Willie ( Charles S. Dutton) drives a load of watermelons from his Mississippi home to the Pittsburgh house of his sister, Berniece ( S. Epatha Merkerson). He hopes to sell the melons and also his sister's piano to purchase land his family has worked since slave days. Although she hasn't played the piano in the years following her husband's death, Berniece adamantly opposes selling an instrument built and carved with family portraits by her grandfather. Making Boy Willie's task more difficult, Berniece and others start to see the ghost of a man Boy Willie may have killed. Berniece's suitor ( Tommy Hollis) holds an exorcism that brings Berniece back to the piano and brings Boy Willie to the realization that he probably must look elsewhere for his money. Besides having Wilson's usual flair for the poetic African‐American vernacular and incisive characterizations, the play also boasted a disquieting sense of mystery not previously seen in his works.