A Brief Look at Legendary Broadway Playwrights August Wilson and Susan Glaspell

August Wilson and "Fences"
Landmark in history of black culture, of American literature, and of Broadway theater.
Grew up poor in Pittsburgh; dropped out of school after he was punished by his teacher because the teacher had refused to believe that August Wilson had written the essay that he handed in, which he claims he did write. After dropping out of school he would, instead of going to school, lie to his mom and say he's going to school and then instead he would go to libraries and just read and try to educate himself.

Eventually, August Wilson ended up in a barbershop one d ay and happened to over here some of the regulars. Apparently the barbers and the regulars all discussed all day; they would talk news, sports, politics, and just about everything else. August Wilson would listen to these discussions and use them to learn about life and the discussions he heard at the barbershop would eventually become the sources of storylines for his stories.
Most known for his collection called "The Pittsburgh Cycle", 9 of the 10 plays are set in the Hills district of Pittsburgh, the impoverished region Wilson grew up in.
Wilson's plan was to write one play each decade of the 20th century; always with a theme dealing with the African American people's struggle for equality in America.

Out of the many awards August Wilson won; most notably are the:
7 NY Drama Critics Circle Award
1 Tony ("Fences")
2 Pulitzer Prizes ("Fences" & "Piano Lesson"

August Wilson was one of the few, elite playwrights who has had 8 or more Broadway productions. It is no doubt that August Wilson is a playwrighting legend and that he his works have caused profound thought into race relations and equality.
A Broadway theater (formerly the Virginia) was renamed to the August Wilson Theatre in 2005.

"Fences"
Troy is a husband and father, adulterer, garbage man, and ex-baseball player that "had the talent to go pro" but the racist society wouldn't let it happen. He lives with Rose and their son, who is a football recruit, and their other son is a struggling musician. They live at their home (which they barely afford). Part of the way they afford it is because Troy's brother had gotten brain damage form the war and now received welfare from the government.
As Troy deals with his dissatisfaction with his job, his affair outside of his marriage and his son having more opportunity then he did we see the mental battle that is occurring because of the way race inequality has scorned Troy throughout his life.

Susan Glaspell - "Trifles"
She was born in 1876 in Iowa. Somehow she managed to overcome the great amount of gender bias a women faced in that day and age and she managed to get a Ph. D in philosophy. Her primary profession was writing newspaper stories and eventually leading to novels. Her work covering a murder case while a newspaper writer helped inspire the play "Trifles" which would become her ticket.

She did not get Married till she was in her 40's. by that time had moved to Greenwhich Village; which at the time was a thriving colony of artists concerned with feminism, equality, and revolution.

She became the co-founder of the "Provincetown Players"; with Eugene O'Neill and others, a free-theater located in Provincetown. Provincetown was where all the people who lived in Greenwhich went to during the hot summer in the city. The theater had begun as a fun thing for friends in 1915. After 2 summers the audience grew so much that they moved the theater to NYC. It was then when she would write her masterpiece, "Trifles".

"Trifles"
The basic storyline is that the wife has killed the husband. The husband was oppressive and so strict that she claimed it was like living with the law (he was a Sheriff).
The house was a big mess when the detectives went to investigate.
The house has a dreary, dark, dull, cold feel to it.
The bird, Canary, got strangled at some point (we presume by the husband).
This is due to the fact that the bird was taken care of post-mortem, while the husband was not. The bird was all wrapped up in fabric and put in a shoebox. The theory is that the bird reminded her of singing like she did before she got married and the oppressive husband made her stop. She loved the bird so much because it was the last and only remaining way she could connect to her past and what made her happy.