Rainey’s Black Bottom(pr. 1984) received a Tony Award
and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the
best new play of 1984-1985.Fences(pr. 1985), which
grossed over $11 million in its first year on Broadway,
won a handful of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize
in drama in 1987.Joe Turner’s Come and Gone(pr.
1986) garnered a Tony Award and the New York
Drama Critics Circle Best Play Award for 1988. Wil-
son received a second Pulitzer Prize in drama in
1990 forThe Piano Lesson(pr. 1987). These plays
served as testimony to Wilson’s versatility and suc-
cess as a playwright.
Set in the musical world of 1920’s Chicago,Ma
Rainey’s Black Bottomutilizes the blues as a means of
exploring this important decade in African Ameri-
can history.Fencesbrings to life the trials and tribula-
tions of a family in an unnamed northern industrial
city during the 1950’s.Joe Turner’s Come and Gonere-
visits Pittsburgh during the first decade of the twenti-
eth century and dramatizes the legacy of slavery on
characters living in a boardinghouse after coming
north during the Great Migration.The Piano Lesson,
set in Pittsburgh during the 1930’s, again bridges
characters’ lives in the South and in the North. Simi-
lar to Wilson’s literal and figurative use of fences in
Fences, a piano is used inThe Piano Lessonto show
characters in conflict over the past and the present
in relation to what the future holds.
Impact Wilson’s plays place him securely within
both mainstream and African American literary tra-
ditions.Fenceshas been favorably compared to Ar-
thur Miller’sDeath of a Salesman(1949) in its pathos
and moving depiction of protagonist Troy Maxson,
feared, loved, and ultimately forgiven by a family he
berates and betrays. Wilson enriched the way Ameri-
can theater depicted race, while he encouraged
younger African American artists to write plays. Not
since Lorraine Hansberry in the 1950’s and Amiri
Baraka in the 1960’s had an African American artist
had such an impact on American drama.
Further Reading
Elkins, Marilyn, ed.August Wilson: A Casebook. New
York: Garland, 1994.
Shannon, Sandra G.The Dramatic Vision of August
Wilson. Washington, D.C.: Howard University
Press, 1995.
Wolfe, Peter.August Wilson. New York: Twayne, 1999.
Kevin Eyster
See also African Americans; Broadway musicals;
Literature in the United States; Mamet, David; Ra-
cial discrimination; Shepard, Sam; Theater.Winfrey, Oprah
Identification Talk-show host
Born January 29, 1954; Kosciusko, Mississippi
Winfrey’s direct approach to interviewing her guests, cou-
pled with her ability to make them feel at ease, made her
show the nation’s top-rated talk show in the 1980’s.
On January 2, 1984, Oprah Winfrey hosted her first
talk show onAM Chicago. She chose discussion topics
to which everyone in her audience could relate. In
many cases, she had experienced the same pain or
circumstances as her guests. Winfrey’s popularity
grew as she dealt with issues honestly and enthusias-
tically. By 1985, the show was changed from a half
hour to an hour-long show and was renamedThe
Oprah Winfrey Show.
Winfrey experienced a life-changing event when
director Steven Spielberg cast her as Sofia in the film
The Color Purple(1985). Many of the struggles of Afri-
can Americans in the Deep South represented in the
film were struggles that Winfrey had faced during
her own life. Her role in the film revealed her talent
as an actor and earned her an Academy Award nomi-
nation and a Golden Globe nomination for Best
Supporting Actress.
On September 8, 1986,The Oprah Winfrey Showbe-
came nationally syndicated. Winfrey formed her
own production company, Harpo Productions, and
served as its chief executive officer. The program in-
creased in popularity and continued to get top rat-
ings, garnering both Winfrey and the show several
awards. She eventually bought the rights toThe
Oprah Winfrey Showand built Harpo Studios, making
her the first African American woman to own a stu-
dio and production company. Winfrey was then able
to produce the show in her own way. One change she
made was to air taped shows as opposed to live
broadcasts. Another change was no longer to use
cue cards. Because she believed that prepared ques-
tions would compromise the show’s and her own au-
thenticity, she conducted her show using only a few
note cards and her own instincts. She asked her
guests about issues that interested her audience, and
her easy interaction with ordinary people softenedThe Eighties in America Winfrey, Oprah 1049