27th Play - Radio Golf by August Wilson
Allen Gilmore (left) and James Vincent Meredith in a scene from Court Theatre’s production in Chicago in 2018 | Michael Brosilow
I have a handful of August Wilson plays on my physical bookshelf, and not many online versions. I found that I did have this one, and had not read it! It is time!
Summary: “August Wilson’s Radio Golf is a fast-paced, dynamic and wonderfully funny work about the world today and the dreams we have for the future. Set in Pittsburgh in the late 1990s, it’s the story of a successful entrepreneur who aspires to become the city’s first Black mayor. But when the past begins to catch up with him, secrets get revealed that could be his undoing.” From Concord Theatricals.
Laura’s thoughts in brief: This is the last play in Wilson’s “Century Cycle,” and it was also the last play he wrote, apparently completing it a few months before his death in 2005. Most of Wilson’s plays are set in decades farther removed from our own, but as someone who lived through the nineties, this one feels right on the money (irony intended). It was a time of money making and expansion, and Wilson writes wonderful Black characters who want to get in on that, and we want them to have that success! Until we realize what has to be sacrificed for that to happen. Roosevelt Hicks and Harmond Wilks have a great design for a “Model Cities” apartment complex to be built in a downtrodden part of the city, complete with all the things that make America great: Whole Foods, Starbucks and Barnes & Noble. It sounds like a perfect plan until Old Joe comes in and tells that they can’t tear down a house in the way because he owns it. Harmond tries to be open-minded and respectful to Joe, but lets him know that the house is coming down. While Roosevelt soliliquizes on how golf can be the making of Black kids, and Harmond’s wife, Mame, tries to get Harmond to see bigger in his run for mayor, Harmond starts wondering what is right. I have to agree with the reviewer that posited that the role of Mame was way underwritten (Wilson’s plays aren’t always great with the female roles, but there are some awesome ones!). Too many men for me in this play. However, it’s a good read and the audience finds themselves wanting to root for Harmond, but also for Old Joe and the house. You know something’s gotta give and it isn’t going to be pretty. I enjoyed reading the play and am sorry that I missed it at Court in 2018 - I’m sure it will come around again soon, and this time I’ll go see it!
READ MORE! Here’s what others had to say about productions:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/theater/reviews/09radio.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2023/06/19/radio-golf-review-round-house-august-wilson/