Timothy Douglas directs the staging at the company's New Haven, Connecticut home through May 14. Opening night is set for April 28.
Anthony Chisolm and John Earl Jelks — who recently appeared in Wilson's Gem of the Ocean on Broadway — star in the cast of Wilson vets that also features Michele Shay (Seven Guitars), Richard Brooks (King Hedley II, Fences) and James A. Williams (Jitney, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom).
With Radio Golf, Wilson ends his ten-play cycle which chronicles the African-American experience in the twentieth century decade by decade. The 1990s-set work involves real estate developers who look to tear down the home of recurring Wilson character Aunt Esther. (The work will next be presented at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum, starting July 31.)
The design team of Radio Golf features David Gallo (scenic), Susan Hilferty (costumes), Donald Holder (lighting) and Vincent Olivieri (sound). Todd Kreidler serves as dramaturg and Narda E. Alcorn is the stage manager.
The other plays in Wilson's grand undertaking (in order of decade which the drama is set) include Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney and King Hedley II. Playwright Wilson is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990). The scribe made his acting debut in May 2003 performing an autobiographical one-man show How I Learned What I Learned at Seattle Repertory Theatre.
Radio Golf ends the current season at Yale Repertory Theatre. The new season will feature stagings of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (October 7-29), Amy Freed's Safe in Hell (Nov. 11-Dec. 3), Henry Adam's The People Next Door (Jan. 13-Feb. 4, 2006), William Shakespeare's All'S Well That Ends Well (Feb. 17-March 18, 2006), Marcus Gardley's dance of the holy ghosts: a play on memory (March 24-April 15, 2006), a sixth play to be announced (April 28 May 20, 2006) and a special presentation of Lee Breuer and Mabou Mines' Dollhouse (March 31-April 1, 2006).
Tickets to Radio Golf at Yale Rep, 1120 Chapel Street (at York St.) in New Haven, CT can be purchased by calling (203) 432-1234 or visit www.yalerep.org.
