The Vision Thing

McCarter Theatre plays ‘Radio Golf.’

By: Stuart Duncan
   There is no telling what playwright August Wilson might have accomplished had cancer not ended his life two years ago at age 60. The mild-mannered, hard-working craftsman had just completed his extraordinary project of writing a cycle of 10 plays, each set in a different decade of the 20th century, depicting the comedy and tragedy of the African-American experience.
   Two years ago, number nine in the series, Gem of the Ocean, covering the years 1900-1910, played at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre, its final stop before Broadway. And now, the last written, Radio Golf, covering the final years of the decade, 1991-2000, is following the same path.
   Interestingly, all but one of the plays is set in the Hill District of Pittsburgh where Wilson himself was born, the son of a German immigrant baker and an African-American mother. The family name was Kittel (which Wilson changed). Gem of the Ocean takes place at 1839 Wylie Avenue; Radio Golf, which takes place 90 years later, is set in a storefront office of the "blighted" district where Harmond Wilks (Harry Lennix) and Roosevelt Hicks (James A. Williams) plan to redevelop the district with large apartment complexes and upscale stores such as Starbucks, Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble. The house on Wylie Avenue becomes an integral part of the melodrama as it unfolds.
   Playwright Wilson always worked slowly and carefully — staging a play and then revising, toning, methodically tuning to the tiniest shine. He could not do so with Radio Golf. He saw it only once, at Yale Drama, before turning it over to director Kenny Leon and dramaturg Todd Kreidler. Much in the process has been lost. As Michael Feingold, dramaturg of The O’Neill Playwright Conferences, has pointed out: "In the end it was always vision, not revision, that counted for August. He would cut and he would reshape, but if he felt even the smallest word was essential to a play, that word could not be moved."
   And, if you talk to the cast of this particular production, they will tell you that "this is a work still in progress." It is too long (close to three hours) and very repetitive. The first act is slow — witty and spirited, but wanders a bit. The role of Wilks’ wife (played by a wonderful actress, Tonya Pinkins) is badly underwritten and she seems to be having difficulty sinking her teeth into it.
   Anthony Chisholm comes very close to stealing the evening as Elder Joseph Barlow, a rogue who remembers dates, but not to pay his taxes. John Earl Jelks has great fun as the handyman with an eye for color. Both were in Gem of the Ocean. David Gallo’s set design is magnificent, but like so many at McCarter, it completely overpowers the play itself and therefore becomes a distraction. If Wilson had had more time — well, there’s no telling.
Radio Golf continues at McCarter Theatre, 91 University Place, Princeton, through April 8. Performances: Wed.-Thurs. 7:30 p.m., Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 3, 8, p.m. Tickets cost $28-$48. For information, call (609) 258-2787. On the Web. www.mccarter.org