King Hedley II
By August Wilson
Directed by Jade King Carroll
December 6 – December 30
Portland Playhouse
An August Wilson Red Door Festival Event
Portland Playhouse continues its exploration of August Wilson’s oeuvre with one of the playwright’s darkest works.
King Hedley II, set in the mid-1980s in a Pittsburgh plagued by desperation, blight, and drive-by shootings, tells the story of a man and his community struggling to reconcile with the past and build for the future. Peter Macon, Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actor, stars. Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press labeled King Hedley II “the most operatic—passionate, expansive, [and] tragic” of Wilson’s 10-play “Century Cycle,” which also includes Portland Playhouse favorites Gem of the Ocean, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Radio Golf.
Dates to Remember
Dec 15
Pre-show panel discussion: The World of King Hedley II. Co-presented with Boom Arts. With special guests:
- Pancho Savery, Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College and a noted scholar on African-American literature
- Karin Magaldi, King Hedley II Dramaturg and Chair, Department of Theatre and Film, Portland State University
- Brett Burkhardt, Assistant Professor of Sociology in the School of Public Policy at Oregon State University, whose expertise centers on the US prison industry and labor market consequences of felony convictions, among other issues.
- Moderated by Ruth Wikler-Luker, Portland Playhouse / Boom Arts