Seven Guitars
by August Wilson

Name: Seven Guitars
Brand: August Wilson
SKU: 9780452276925
Rating: 3.85 (1213 reviews)

Broadway

Seven Guitars Book Cover — Seven Guitars Cover

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

120 mins1940s/WWIIRole(s) for Black Actor(s)Exterior SetPeriod CostumesAmerican Comedy

Awards & Recognition

Drama Critics CirclePulitzer Prize

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.

Powerful character dynamicsRich, poetic dialogueEngaging themes of struggleStrong emotional impactSlow pacing at timesEnding left some confused

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