Samuel L Jackson and John David Washington to star in Netflix’s The Piano Lesson
David Farnor | On 15, Apr 2023
Samuel L Jackson and John David Washington (BlacKKKlansman, Tenet) will lead the cast of Netflix’s The Piano Lesson.
The film, based on the play by August Wilson, is set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression. It follows the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the family piano, which documents the family history through carvings made by their enslaved ancestor.
The Broadway revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L Jackson and John David Washington recently concluded its run at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, having played 27 previews and 124 regular performances. The production is the highest grossing revival of a play on Broadway and the highest grossing Wilson production on Broadway ever.
The Piano Lesson is part of Wilson’s 10 play American Century Cycle and includes Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was released globally on Netflix in 2021. Directed by George C Wolfe and adapted for the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, it starred Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman and Colman Domingo. Before then, in 2010, Viola Davis starred with Denzel Washington in the revival of Fences on Broadway, with Denzel Washington directing and starring in a film adaptation of the play.
Denzel will produce The Piano Lesson, alongside Todd Black, with a screenplay by Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington. It will be directed by Malcolm Washington.
In front of the camera, the cast will also include Ray Fisher (Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Rebel Moon), Danielle Deadwyler (Till, The Harder They Fall), Michael Potts (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Rustin) and Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, The Tragedy of Macbeth).
Netflix to adapt August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson
11th March 2021
Netflix is bringing August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson to the screen.
The play, first premiered in 1987, is the fourth in the playwright’s 10-part Pittsburgh Cycle, which includes Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Fences.
Since Wilson’s death in 2005, Denzel Washington has spearheaded a drive to bring Wilson’s plays to the screen, beginning in 2016 with Fences, in which he starred alongside Viola Davis – reprising their roles from a Broadway revival of the play.
Davis went on to star alongside Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which was again produced by Washington, alongside Todd Black, who also produced Fences.
The news comes as the play is reportedly set for its own Broadway revival in 2022, starring Samuel L Jackson, Danielle Brooks and John David Washington, directed by LaTanya Richard Jackson. Samuel L Jackson made his Broadway debut in the original 1990 production of the play, which was nominated for five Tony Awards.
The same cast are reported as being attached to a film adaptation, which is likely to be the adaptation that Netflix has announced.
At present, what we do know for certain is the producers of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom will work on Netflix’s adaptation.
The play, which is set in 1936, follows the lives of the Charles family, who have to decide what to do with a piano, which is an old family heirloom.
Stay tuned for more details as and when we confirm them.
The next August Wilson adaptation is officially coming to Netflix — THE PIANO LESSON, from the producers of MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM. pic.twitter.com/gXlGVxhdLU
— Netflix Tudum (@NetflixTudum) March 10, 2021
