Radio Golf

“Radio Golf” is the final chapter in August Wilson’s sprawling saga describing Black life in Pittsburgh over ten decades, “The Pittsburgh Cycle.” Completed only months before Mr. Wilson’s death in 2005, it premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre that same year and came to Broadway in 2007. Winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, it also received several Tony award nominations. At its heart, “Radio Golf” plays out the continuing struggle between history and progress. Harmond Wilks is a successful real estate developer determined to revive the dilapidated and broken-down neighborhood where he grew up.

But there is a cost – to create a sparkling new shopping and apartment complex, a ramshackle old house must be destroyed. This house represents not only a piece of Wilks’ personal history, but the history of the community. Supporting  characters in the play embody the forces of change versus tradition, of stagnation versus progress, and of ideals versus pragmatism. “Radio Golf” asks each one of us to consider, “What price is success?”