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The Pittsburgh Cycle
Ten-play play cycle written by August Wilson
The Pittsburgh Cycle
The Pittsburgh Cycle is a cycle of ten plays written by August Wilson. Also known as The American Century Cycle (or Century Cycle), each of the ten plays is set with a predominantly black cast in a different decade of the twentieth century. All but one—Ma Rainey's Black Bottom—take place in the historically black Hill District neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The first entry in the cycle, Jitney, premiered in 1982. The last, Radio Golf, premiered in April 2005, shortly before Wilson's death that October. Eight of the plays transferred to Broadway in his lifetime, with Ma Rainey reaching Broadway in both 1984 and 2003. The cycle has earned a collective 72 Tony Award nominations and over 14 Broadway stagings. Five of the ten plays were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, with Fences and The Piano Lesson each earning the award. Wilson is the only playwright to be a six-time Pulitzer finalist. Wilson developed six of the plays with Lloyd Richards as director, frequently using...
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