Netflix recently announced the cast of their new adaptation of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson.”
Actors Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington are set to star in the film as leads alongside Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts and Corey Hawkins, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
First announced in 2021, the movie adaptation will be directed by Malcolm Washington as his directorial debut. The screenplay is also an adaptation by Washington, written alongside producer and writer Virgil Williams. Denzel Washington, John David Washington and Malcolm Washington’s father is set to produce the movie alongside Todd Black.
Taking place in Pittsburgh in 1936, Wilson’s 1987 play follows the lives of the Charles family during the Great Depression. The storyline revolves around two siblings who struggle to decide what to do with the family piano, an heirloom that features carved designs by an enslaved ancestor. Through the symbolism of the piano, the Pultizer-winning play discusses the idea of confronting the past to shape the future.
The announcement of Jackson’s and John David Washington’s involvement in the movie adaptation of the play comes shortly after the end of their roles in the Broadway revival of “The Piano Lesson.” Directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson, the revival also featured Fisher and Potts, who are set to reprise their roles.
Throughout its run, the adaptation of the original play became the highest-grossing play on Broadway for the season and the highest-grossing Broadway August Wilson play in history. With director LaTanya Richardson Jackson at the helm, the new revival also became the first August Wilson play to be directed by a woman.
In an interview with The Broadway Show, Richardson Jackson expressed her excitement to take on the project prior to the play’s first Broadway show.
“It’s always special anytime you attempt an August Wilson play,” said Richardson Jackson per The Broadway Show. “He has provided us with such a rich literary verse of the African American experience in this country.”
With the new Netflix adaptation based on the revival, the film will be the third August Wilson play to be adapted into a movie in recent years. In 2016, Denzel Washington and Viola Davis co-led the film adaptation of Wilson’s 1985 play, “Fences.” The film was critically acclaimed, winning numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Davis’ performance.
In 2020, Davis led another adaptation of an August Wilson play, playing the role of Ma Rainey alongside the late Chadwick Boseman in the final role of his career. The film was also critically acclaimed, earning Boseman a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Motion Picture.
