Malcolm Washington has taken on a big responsibility for his first feature film as a director. The filmmaker has chosen to adapt August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play for the big screen, a definite challenge for any writer/director.
“When I read [the play], it just resonated with me,” Washington shared on a visit to CBS Mornings. “The themes were so big and things that I was wrestling with in my own life…It was one of those projects that, when you read it, you have to engage in that work in some meaningful way, whether that be a film or a script.”
In the interview, Washington went on to explain that the film highlights the importance of confronting our history, our identities, and where we came from. He specifically names his grandfather with being an important figure in his own past and somebody that he has learned from, even after his passing.
From Oscar-nominated producers Denzel Washington and Todd Black, The Piano Lesson features an all-star cast including Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu with Danielle Deadwyler, and Corey Hawkins. The film will be available on Netflix starting November 22.
Adapted from August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork, THE PIANO LESSON explores the intergenerational dynamics of identity, resilience and transcendence – revealing startling truths about how we perceive the past and who gets to define our legacy.
The original production of the play premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1987, also starring Samuel L. Jackson. In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize for drama, The Piano Lesson won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, the Peabody Award, and was nominated for the 1990 Tony Award for Best Play.
