By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
The renowned play “Seven Guitars” is set to open at Spotlighters Theatre on Jan. 9, transporting Baltimore audiences to the backyard of a Pittsburgh boardinghouse in the 1940s, where the echoes of blues, neglected dreams and laughter come together.
The play’s cycle is expected to run at Spotlighters Theatre in Central Baltimore from Jan. 9 to Feb. 1. This will be the first showing of the play in 2026. One of the last runs of this play in the Baltimore area was by the AngelWing Project at the Chesapeake Arts Center in October 2023.
The sold‑out show, written by August Wilson and directed by Benjamin Isaiah Black, is a powerful and poetic piece that takes place through flashbacks around the funeral of an aspiring blues musician, revealing the lives of seven African‑American characters wrestling with hope, loss and the search for meaning amid post‑World War II poverty.
This current adaptation is part of a larger effort by 10 Baltimore theater companies to celebrate Wilson’s American Century Cycle over three years, starting in 2024 with a showing of “Gem of the Ocean” at the Arena Players. The series will continue to run at the different theaters across the city, in chronological order.
Wilson, who was born April 27, 1945, and died Oct. 2, 2005, wrote several acclaimed plays as part of his American Century Cycle, set in different decades of the 20th century and centered on African‑American life. “Seven Guitars” is a part of the series. He received Pulitzer Prizes for “Fences,” set in the 1950s, and “The Piano Lesson,” set in the 1930s.
Wilson spent most of his childhood in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, a vibrant but poor neighborhood that became the background for several of his plays. With a White father and Black mother, he grew up with a complex sense of race, which also features in his works.
After quitting school at 15 over a plagiarism accusation, he returned from a mostly White suburb and educated himself through public libraries while learning from his community. He went on to write poetry that was published in journals such as “Black World” in 1971 and “Black Lines” in 1972. His iconic plays include “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” one of his first major plays, which was eventually adapted into a movie.
Wilson’s work has received a range of accolades, including seven New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Play. Wilson also received the 1986 Whiting Award for Drama.
As Baltimore’s city-wide celebration of Wilson continues, residents will have the opportunity to see the rest of his illustrious plays, right here in Charm City.