August Wilson's bottom line
August Wilson was a playwright absorbed in his people's history; and now, of course, he himself is a part of that history (he passed away in 2005). This melancholy fact, coupled with the knowledge that Ma Rainey's Black Bottom represents (roughly) the starting point of the playwright's life work, his ten-play saga now known as the "Century Cycle," brings a poignant emotional weight to bear on the productio…