The Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History is bringing back a popular series on Aug. 31.
Jerome Preston Bates will perform a reading of August Wilson’s “Seven Guitars” at 6 p.m., Aug. 31, at the museum.
The event will be the first in a series of theatrical readings of Wilson’s work, according to a news release.
A Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright, Wilson was dubbed “theater’s poet of Black America” and was best known for his series of 10 plays. Collectively, they were called “The Pittsburgh Cycle” and chronicle the experiences and heritage of the African American community. Other plays Wilson wrote include “Fences,” “The Piano Lesson” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” all of which were turned into films.
Bates, an Augusta native and graduate of Laney High School, appeared on Broadway in “Death of a Salesman,” “Seven Guitars,” “Jitney,” “American Son” and “Stick Fly.” He’s also appeared in Off-Broadway productions with Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman. He’s appeared on TV and film in productions such as “Law and Order,” “Shaft,” “Marvels” and “Something to Give.”
This is the second time the Laney Museum and Bates have offered this series. Bates directed 10 August Wilson plays from 2005 to 2008 to sold-out audiences.
Admission is $50 per person, and seating is limited. Also offered is a package with tickets for both the reading and the Men on the Bag program, which highlights the history of the Black caddies at the Augusta National at 3 p.m., Sept. 1 for $70.
Read more: Black Caddie program at the Laney Museum
The next in the series will be “King Hedley II” on Nov. 2.
