Gem of the Ocean

I stubbled upon this title while reading Hill Harper's, The Conversation. He made a reference to the the Gem of the Ocean. I actually stopped reading his book, to find the Gem of the Ocean play. The play was excellent, I read it so fast I thought I'd missed something. I savoring it. Could you maybe send more black author's, Thank you. I forgot my tag.

I got it in record time; in fact, quick enough to use it in my Black History month class. Thank you

Broadway theater playwright August Wilson presents Gem of the Ocean, the first play in a ten-play cycle about the African-American experience during the modern twentieth century. Set in 1904 Pittsburgh, Gem of the Ocean follows a long-lived, fierce-willed matriarch and the two men she welcomed into her Hill District home: Solly Two Kings, who was born into slavery and served the Union Army in the Civil War, and Citizen Barlow, a man from Alabama seeking a better life. A richly textured exploration of the challenges faced in adapting to a new environment, no matter how many hardships one faced in the past, Gem of the Ocean is highly recommended.

GoO is August Wilson's first play in his ten-play epic cycle of African-American history. It is not so much literal history as metaphoric: the essential qualities of strength, endurance, and community are what hold the characters together. For someone not familiar with Wilson's work, the play may be curious, but for anyone knowledge about Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Two Trains Running, or King Hedley II, Gem of the Ocean is an important work.

I remember thinking that I was inspired and wanted to write a blues song listening to the characters speak so colorfully in August Wilson's play, Gem of the Ocean. Phylicia Rashad and the entire cast were mesmerizing in the Broadway version I was lucky enough to see. I believe GotO is even more cinematic than The Piano Lesson, a Wilson play made into a movie that worked well on the screen, in my opinion. The story line of GotO spans a few days and engages and explores a spectrum of social and moral issues, without answering them and leaving the audience to ponder those gray areas. Highly recommended.