Includes bibliographical references and index.

August Wilson: the ground on which he stood / Christopher Bigsby -- Been here and gone / John Lahr -- August Wilson's relationship to Black theatre: community, aesthetics, history and race / Mary L. Bogumil -- Music and mythology in August Wilson's plays / Kim Pereira -- Gem of the ocean and the redemptive power of history / Harry J. Elam, Jr. -- Joe Turner's come and gone / Samuel A. Hay -- Ma Rainey's black bottom: cutting the historical record, dramatizing a blues CD / Alan Nadel -- A piano and its history: family and transcending family / Felicia Hardison Londré -- The tragedy of Seven guitars / Brenda Murphy -- Safe at home?: August Wilson's Fences / Matthew Roudané -- Two trains running: blood on the tracks / Stephen Bottoms -- Jitney, folklore and responsibility / David Krasner -- King Hedley II: in the midst of all this death / Joan Herrington -- Radio golf: the courage of his convictions: survival, success and sprituality / Margaret Booker -- Critics on August Wilson / David K. Sauer and Janice A. Sauer -- An interview with August Wilson / Christopher Bigsby.