Seven Guitars
by August Wilson
Highlights
Awards & Recognition
Finalist: 1995 Pulitzer Prize in Drama Winner! New York Drama Critics Award for Best Play August Wilson is the recipient of the 1986 Whiting Award for Drama
What readers are saying
Readers appreciate the depth and complexity of characters in the play, with many praising the poignant dialogue and thematic exploration of dreams and struggles. While the storytelling connects to Wilson's broader work, some feel it can be slow-paced and less cohesive compared to his other plays. Overall, it is viewed as a compelling addition to the Century Cycle, though not everyone's favorite among Wilson's repertoire.
Synopsis
Full Length Tragic comedy
Characters: 4 male 3 female Exterior Set The sixth in the author's decade by decade exploration of the black experience in America two of which have won Pulitzer Prizes Seven Guitars is part bawdy comedy part dark elegy and part mystery.
In the backyard of a Pittsburgh tenement in 1948 friends gather to mourn for a blues guitarist and singer who died just as his career was on the verge of taking off.
The action that follows is
Press Reviews
"Displays a narrative sweep and almost biblical richness of language and character... Mr. Wilson writes so vividly that the play seems to have the narrative scope and depth of a novel."
— The New York Times
"Impressive... with wild, untamed elements of symbolic fantasy, and the language... is used with the specific riff-like fluency and emotional impact of jazz."
— New York Post
Characters
| Character |
|---|
Red Carter |
Vera Dotson |
Louise |
Hedley |
Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton |
Ruby |
Canewell |
Videos
Seven Guitars at THEATREWORKS
Publication
Seven Guitars is a American comedy play written by August Wilson and published by Samuel French in New York (1997).
Digital editions available on Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Google Play (eISBN 9781101173695).
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Reprint
Penguin · 1997 · 107 pp
Digital prices may vary by region and tax jurisdiction.
Performance Rights
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