August Wilson's Radio Golf

AUGUST WILSON (PLAYWRIGHT) (April 27, 1945-October 2, 2005) authored 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, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of African-Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century. His plays have been produced at regional theaters across the country and all over the world, as well as on Broadway. In 2003, Mr. Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Mr. Wilson’s works garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987); and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as eight New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Jitney, and Radio Golf. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. Mr. Wilson’s early works included the one-act plays The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X, The Homecoming and the musical satire Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson received many fellowships and awards, including Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwrighting, the Whiting Writers Award, 2003 Heinz Award, was awarded a 1999 National Humanities Medal by the President of the United States, and received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theater located at 245 West 52nd Street – The August Wilson Theatre. Additionally, Mr. Wilson was posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lived in Seattle, Washington at the time of his death. He is immediately survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero. 

BRANDON J. DIRDEN recently appeared on Broadway starring in the Tony Award winning production of Take Me Out and Skeleton Crew for which he received a Drama Desk nomination.  He also appeared on Broadway as Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Tony Award-winning production of All the Way, with Bryan Cranston, as ‘Booster’; the Tony Award winning revival of August Wilson’s Jitney; Clybourne Park; Enron; and Prelude to a Kiss. Off-Broadway, he has appeared in The Piano Lesson, for which he won Obie, Theatre World and AUDELCO awards; The First Breeze of Summer and Day of Absence at Signature Theatre; Detroit ’67 at the Public Theater and Classical Theatre of Harlem; Peter and the Starcatcher at New York Theatre Workshop; and as ‘Brutus’ in TFANA’s production of Julius Caesar. On screen he has appeared in “The Good Wife”, “For Life”, “Evil”, “The Big C”, “Public Morals”, “Manifest”, “The Get Down”, “The Accidental Wolf”, “Blue Bloods“, “The Quad”, the FX miniseries “Mrs. America” and four seasons of FX’s “The Americans” as Agent Dennis Aderholt. He has directed numerous plays by Dominique Morisseau and August Wilson and recently Wine in the Wilderness by Alice Childress for Two River Theater. Brandon is an Associate Arts Professor on the faculty of Tisch Grad Acting at NYU; a frequent volunteer at the 52nd Street Project; and a proud member of both Actor’s Equity Association and Fair Wage On Stage.    

Karen Perry: (Costume Design) Two River is one of my favorite theatres and I am so happy to return this season with the artist and staff I love collaborating with so much over 12 season in the past and on The Price. Karen’s 13 seasons of shows she has costume designed at TRT has included Musicals, Dramas, Comedies costume designs, last here with Wine In The Wilderness also directed by Brandon Dirden. Other Recent shows Karen designed include: Rosie Is Red, Everyone else is Blue dir Reggie Douglas @ Cap Rep, Kunene & the King dir Ruben S Hudson @ STC, Death on the Niles dir Hana Sharif @ Arena Stage, Karen Perry has long been considered a master in her profession. Within a three-decade career, Karen has built an incredible body of work on Stage and Screen and has garnered a winning reputation as both a tremendous talent and sheer joy to work with. A native New Yorker, Karen Perry began designing for the stage in the 1980’s. Ms. Perry’s earlier film and stage work include: Karen’s films include The Brother from Another Planet by dir John Sayles, Just Looking dir by Jason Alexander, The Gregory Hines Show on CBS, the celebrated Public Theatre hit musical Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk. A Raisin in the Sun dir by Robert O’Hara.  TV costume designs includes NBC’s Saturday Night Live, UPN’s Abby with Sydney Poitier, CBS’s acclaimed original movie One Day In Montgomery: The Rosa Parks Story dir by Julie Dash, and HBO’s Strapped dir by Forrest Whittaker, both of which earned Ms Perry Cable Ace Award nominations. She has designed costumes for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (Syracuse Stage), Destiny of Desire Telanovela Musical (Old Globe), Clyde’s (Berkley Rep & Huntington Theatre), Wine in the Wilderness (Two River Theatre), Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical (People’s Light), and Lackawanna Blues (Broadway & Mark Taper Theatre). In addition, Karen worked as personal stylist for many premier artists including the late, great Gregory Hines for 13 years collaborating with Mr. Hines on numerous projects including films Bleeding Heart directed by Mr Hines, The Tic Code dir by Gary Winick, CBS’s The Gregory Hines Show and Showtime’s original film Bojangles: The Bill “Bojangle” Robinson Story. Ms Perry’s theatre design highlights include National Federal Theatre’s Paul Robeson; The Taking of Miss Janie; It Hasn’t Always Been This Way; Three Travelers; Salaam Huey Newton, Salaam; Crumbs for the Table of Joy; A Raisin in the Sun; Dancing on Moonlight; and Breathe, Boom. Her Regional Theatre work includes 6 August Wilson productions:  Gem of the Ocean, The  Piano Lesson, King Hedley II, Radio Golf, Two Trains Running and Seven Guitars. The latter two garnered Ms Perry with both an Audelco Award and The Craig Noel Award of Theatre Excellence.  She is also the recipient of The National Black Theatre Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Costume Design Excellence in American and Black Stage, Film and Television, The “Woodie” Award and an Audelco Award for Signature Theatre’s production of The First Breeze of Summer. Perry has also received a Norton Award, Lucille Lortel Award, LA Ovations Awards, a CDG Award, an Ace Award, a Hewitt Award, and she is an Emmy nominee. Current productions of Ms. Perry’s include Daniel Beaty’s Resurrection dir by Oz Scott, McCarter Theatre’s production of Tarell McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Trilogy, New York Theatre Workshop’s Things of Dry Hours by Naomi Wallace dir Ruben Santiago Hudson, Ebony Repertoire Theatre’s STEW in Los Angeles dir Jade King Carroll, and Arizona Theatre Company’s Intimate Apparel dir by Oz Scott.  

Driscoll Otto (Lighting Design) Previously at TRTC: Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine, Seven Guitars, Radio Golf. Recently Driscoll designed lighting for a new production of Aida (Opera in the Quarry, Austria) projections for a new production of Turandot (Teatro Petruzzelli, Italy), Lighting for Encores! Production of The Life (re-imagined and directed by Billy Porter).  Driscoll’s designs are often seen in NYC and in regional Theatre and Opera. His credits include The Huntington Theatre Company, Utah Opera, The Old Globe Theatre, Opera Omaha, Opera Philadelphia, Dallas Theater Center, Drury Lane Theatre,  Chicago Opera Theatre, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Hangar Theatre, Flat Rock Playhouse, Lyric Opera Kansas City. Driscoll also designed  productions of Legally Blonde and Rock of Ages for Norwegian Cruise Lines. Highlights to his resume include projection design for Santa Fe Opera’s production of The Golden Cockerel and The Metropolitan Opera’s production of La Donna Del Lago .He received his MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His work can be seen at www.DriscollOtto.com 

Kay Richardson (SOUND DESIGNER) is a two-time Suzi Bass nominated Sound Designer and Audio Engineer. Wine in the Wilderness marks Kay’s return to the Two River family. Regional Theatre designs include: The Hound of the Baskervilles at Alpine Theatre Project in Whitefish, MT, August Wilson’s Radio Golf and King Hedley II at Two River Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, Eclipsed at Synchronicity Theatre, Thurgood at Theatrical Outfit, Between Riverside & Crazy, Smart People, Fetch Clay Make Man and Gut Bucket Blues at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company all in Atlanta, GA. Additional design work includes: A Man of No Importance, Spring Awakening, The Colored Museum, A Song for Coretta, and Seven Guitars. Kay has toured in all 50 of the United States and in over 45 countries mixing live sound for musicals and concerts. Currently she is the Sound Supervisor at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts in Princeton, NJ.

Erin Hicks grew up in Harlem, NY. She began styling hair as an assistant on The Winter’s Tale at the New York Shakespeare Festival, starring Alfre Woodard, Mandy Patinkin, and Diane Venora. Over the last 20 years she has worked on various Broadway, film and TV shows. This is Erin’s fifth show at Two River, following Guadalupe in the Guest Room and August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and King Hedley II.

Heidi Griffiths has worked for more than 25 years at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in NYC, where she has cast over 200 productions Off-Broadway and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, including Shakespeare, new plays, and musicals. On Broadway: The Girl From The North Country; The Inheritance; The Iceman Cometh; Sweat; Shuffle Along; The Crucible, Eclipsed; A Delicate Balance; A Raisin in the Sun; Lucky Guy; Chinglish; The Motherf**ker with the Hat; The Merchant of Venice; Hair; Passing Strange; Caroline, or Change; Take Me Out (Tony Award, Best Play 2003); Topdog/Underdog (Pulitzer Prize, 2002); The Wild Party; Bring in ’Da Noise, Bring in ’Da Funk; On the Town; and The Tempest. She also cast the films The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, MURDER and murder, Saving Face and Ladybird. Radio Golf is her 12th collaboration with Two River Theater.

Two River Theater: Theo, King Hedley II, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Women of Padilla, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Seven Guitars, Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine, and The School for Wives. Broadway (as Casting Associate): The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, A Delicate Balance, A Raisin in the Sun, Lucky Guy (Casting Assistant). Additional casting credits include work with Arena Stage, Center Theater Group, The Cherry Lane, Bedlam, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, LAByrinth, New Georges, TheaterWorks Hartford, and The Studio Theatre. Kate is a Casting Director at The Public Theater.

MEGAN SMITH (she/her/hers)  STAGE MANAGER is thrilled to return to Two River Theater for THE PRICE.  Previous Two River Theater credits include: A Little Shakespeare: The Tempest, The Hombres, Radio Golf, Dancing at Lughnasa and The Bridge of San Luis Rey.  NY credits include: Off-Broadway:  Roundabout Theatre Company, New York Theatre Workshop, The Vineyard Theatre, Signature Theatre, Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club.  Regional credits include:  Westport Country Playhouse, Miami New Drama, Long Wharf Theater, Baltimore Center Stage, New York Stage and Film, Bard SummerScape and The Guthrie Theater.