James Ijames Directs August Wilson's 'The Piano Lesson' for PA Shakespeare Festival's 35th Season

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Performances will run through June 14.

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Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival will open its 2026 Summer Theatre Series and landmark 35th Anniversary Season with August Wilson 's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning drama The Piano Lesson, running now through June 14 in the Schubert Theatre at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of DeSales University.

Directed by James Ijames , Pulitzer Prize winner for his play Fat Ham, a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, The Piano Lesson marks PSF's return to Wilson's acclaimed American Century Cycle, following its 2022 production of Fences.

Set in Pittsburgh's Hill District in 1936 in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the play centers on siblings Boy Willie and Berniece as they battle over a treasured family heirloom: a piano carved by their enslaved ancestor, bearing the faces of generations of family during the years of their enslavement. As tensions rise, the ghosts of the past begin to stir, and the piano becomes a powerful symbol of family history, sacrifice, and legacy.

Akeem Davis leads the cast as Boy Willie. A Philadelphia-based award-winning actor and PSF veteran, Davis directed last season's A Raisin in the Sun and has appeared in numerous PSF productions, including Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Regionally, he has performed leading roles at the Arden Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company , Theatre Horizon, Theatre Exile, Folger Theatre , and People's Light, where his performance in All My Sons earned him a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance. A Helen Hayes nominated artist, Davis was a recipient of the F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist (2015).

Jessica Johnson returns to PSF to play Berniece, following her acclaimed turn as Celie in The Color Purple (2024). Her recent credits include Mayme in Intimate Apparel (Arden Theatre), Chris in POTUS (Arden Theatre), Opal in Fat Ham ( Wilma Theatre ), and Modúpé in Half God of Rainfall ( Wilma Theatre ). Johnson has received two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical for The Color Purple (Theatre Horizon) and Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical for Once on This Island (Arden Theatre). In addition to her stage achievements, Johnson has been honored with several prestigious fellowships and residencies, such as the Independence Foundation Fellowship (2019), the Jilline Ringle Residency (2019), and the HATCH Residency (2021) to develop her independent work.

Kash Goins makes his PSF debut as Doaker, the siblings' steadfast uncle. Goins has performed in August Wilson 's Two Trains Running, King Hedley II, and Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Arden Theatre).

Terrence Clowe plays Wining Boy, Doaker's wandering, piano-playing brother, a washed-up recording musician and gambler who drifts in and out of the family household. Clowe's select stage credits include tours of Fosse, Chicago, Rent, Miss Saigon, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Joining them in the cast are Christopher James Murray (Lymon), Johnnie Hobbs III (Avery), Jessica Money (Grace), and Leonice Diaz (Maretha).

Ijames, helming the production, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-nominated playwright, director, and educator. A 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, he received the 2015 Terrence McNally New Play Award for WHITE and a 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention for ...Miz Martha. His honors also include a 2017 Whiting Award, the 2019 Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise, Steinberg Playwright Awards in 2020 and 2022, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, and a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Play for Fat Ham. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Theatre and Head of Playwriting at Columbia University.

Joining Ijames on the creative team are Scenic and Lighting Designer Thom Weaver , Costume Designer Jerrilyn Lanier Duckworth, Sound Designer and Composer Liz Filios , Fight Director Eli Lynn, and Intimacy Director Kim Carson . Danielle Sellick serves as Production Stage Manager, with Karly Amato as Assistant Stage Manager.

The Piano Lesson previews May 27 and 28, officially opens Friday, May 29, and runs through June 14. An audio-described performance for the blind and visually impaired will take place on Saturday, May 30 at 2 p.m.

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival invites audiences to join the cast for a champagne toast following the opening night performance on Friday, May 29. Post-show discussions will follow the June 4 and June 11 performances. "Epilogues" - a free behind-the-scenes discussion open to all - takes place at 10 a.m. on June 13, offering audiences a deeper look at the production and a chance to ask questions.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/philadelphia/article/THE-PIANO-LESSON-to-Open-Pennsylvania-Shakespeare-Festivals-35th-Anniversary-Season-20260604)._