Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom now for her weekly review of the Baltimore regional stage. Today, she talks about the new production of the late August Wilson's classic play, Seven Guitars, now on stage at Spotlighters Theatre in Baltimore.
Produced as part of the city's ongoing, multi-yearAugust Wilson Celebration, Seven Guitars represents the playwright's 1940s entry in his acclaimed Pittsburgh Cycle, a decade-by-decade anthology of African-American life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 20th century.
Written in 1995, the play is set in the backyard of a boardinghouse in the 1940s, and begins and ends after the funeral of one of the main characters.
Through flashbacks, we meet an aspiring blues musician, an ailing old man, and three single women. As the play bounces back and forth in time we experience the plight of African-Americans struggling to find meaning while navigating the realities of post-war poverty in Pittsburgh.
Directed by Benjamin Isaiah Black, the play stars Louis B. Murray as Hedley, and Jae Jones as Floyd.
Seven Guitars continues at Spotlighters Theatre until February 1, 2026. Click the theater link for showtimes and ticket info.
