"Despite Wilson’s eloquent writing, 'The Piano Lesson,' at nearly three hours, drags on. The repetitive dialogue...evokes a nagging sensation of déjà vu."
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"Wilson’s works sometimes take on mystical dimensions. 'The Piano Lesson' eventually leads to a supernatural confrontation that creeps close to being fright-night over-the-top."
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"It’s a play about the possibilities of the present that are cut off when other demands, like those of the past, make themselves known."
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"I suspect the production will find a more sustained and smooth groove as the run proceeds. But, in any case, a major revival of a play by Wilson—as great a playwright as America has produced—is a notable theatrical occasion in itself."
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"Before your eyes can settle on any one room of the house, it’s all over, and so, within moments, is the play, bringing a hasty and unsatisfying conclusion to an otherwise well-paced and top-notch production."
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"The play’s characters are so individually well-formed and collectively solid that their voices have a way of lingering in the mind, and Wilson’s language is dramatic lyricism of a very high order."
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"There’s no doubt that The Piano Lesson is a ghost story...It’s those spirits of Black men that are believed to be responsible for the series of well accidents."
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"What the production never quite nails is the ghost story that hovers over the living room drama and how best to marry the two. So it leans too heavily on dreary scenery."
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