The Piano Lesson

Plot synopsis:
Act 1, Scene 1 Boy Willie and Lymon arrive in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Mississippi and enter the Charles' household at five in the morning. They have brought a truck of watermelons to sell. Against Doaker's advice, Boy Willie wakes his sister Berniece, and tells her of Sutter's death. Berniece accuses Boy Willie of shoving Sutter down a well, and she asks him to leave. Instead, Boy Willie wakes Berniece's daughter, Maretha, causing Berniece to run back up the stairs where she sees Sutter's ghost. Lymon notices the piano which Willie intends to sell to buy Sutter's land. Doaker insists that Berniece will not sell the piano, because she refused to sell when Avery brought a buyer to the house. Willie insists that he will convince her. Maretha comes downstairs, and Willie asks her to play the piano. She plays the beginning of a few simple tunes, and he answers her song with a boogie-woogie. Berniece enters with Avery, and Willie asks whether she still has the prospective buyer's name, explaining he came to Pittsburgh to sell the piano. Berniece refuses to listen and walks out.
Act 1, Scene 2 Wining Boy and Doaker talk in the kitchen when Boy Willie and Lymon enter and claim to have located the piano buyer. Willie's uncles warn him that Sutter will cheat him but Boy Willie refuses to listen. The story behind Lymon and Boy Willie's term in Parchman Prison Farm is revealed. Lymon and Willie both gather different perspectives from their experiences. Lymon wants to flee to the North where he will be better treated, while Willie feels that whites only treat blacks badly if the blacks do not try and stop them. They ask Wining Boy to play the piano, but instead he explains that being seen as nothing more than a piano player became a burden.
Doaker then tells the story of the piano's history. Generations earlier, Sutter, their family's slave-owner, broke up a family by selling a mother and child to pay for the piano which he bought for his wife as an anniversary present. The wife was happy with the piano but missed having the slaves, so Sutter had that family's husband/father (who was a carpenter and too valuable to sell), carve their likenesses on the piano. He carved likenesses of his entire history on the piano. In 1911, Boy Willie's father stole the piano from the Sutters; in retaliation he was killed. Willie declares that these are stories of the past and that the piano should now be put to good use. Willie and Lymon attempt to move the piano to test its weight. As soon as they try to move it, Sutter's ghost is heard. Berniece tells Willie to stop and informs him that he is selling his soul for money. Willie refutes her, Berniece blames Crawley's death on Willie, and the two engage in a fight. Upstairs, Maretha is confronted by the ghosts, and she screams.
Act 2, Scene 1 Doaker and Wining Boy are again together in the house alone. Doaker confesses that he saw Sutter's ghost playing the piano and feels that Berniece should discard the piano so as to prevent spirits from traumatizing the Charles family. Wining Boy disagrees. Lymon and Willie walk into the room after a watermelon sale. Wining Boy sells his suit and shoes to Lymon, promising its swooning effects on women. Both Lymon and Willie leave the house in hot pursuit of women.
Act 2, Scene 2 Later that day as Berniece is preparing for her bath, Avery enters and proposes that Berniece should open up and let go. He tells her that she cannot continue to live her life with Crawley's memory shut inside her. Berniece changes the topic and asks Avery to bless the house, hoping to destroy the spirit of the Sutter ghost. Avery then brings up the piano and tells Berniece she should learn to not be afraid of her family's spirits and play it again. Berniece breaks down her story of her mother's tears and blood mingled with her father's soul on the piano and refuses to open her wounds for everyone to see.
Act 2, Scenes 3–5 Boy Willie enters the Charles house with Grace and begins to fool around on the couch. Berniece orders them out and opens the door to see Lymon. Lymon is upset over his inability to woo women and begins to talk about women's virtues to Berniece. The two kiss, breaking Berniece's discomfort over Crawley's death, and Berniece heads back upstairs.
The next morning, Lymon and Willie try to move the piano out and are stopped by Uncle Doaker. Willie, frustrated, demands that he will sell the piano no matter what. The day to move the piano draws closer. Excited to sell the piano, Willie quickly partakes on his actions without a care of his sister's words. Berniece appears with Crawley's gun, leading Doaker and Avery to urge them to talk it through first. Sutter's presence as a ghost is suddenly revived. Avery attempts to drive the ghost away with his blessings but is not successful. Suddenly, Berniece knows that she must play the piano again as a plea to her ancestors. Finally, the house is led to a calm aura, and Willie leaves.

Tags: depressing

Review:
Excellent play & film!.
I first viewed this film in a literature class in 2003, and it quickly became one of my favorites.
It rather saddens me that so many people complain that there's no story, no action.
There is a lot of story to this film, if you want to take the time to watch and appreciate it.
Not every movie has to be a massive epic.
This film is a story about a family and how some of the members want a better life and to purge the past of pain, and just like real life, some of the best stories are about the intimate moments and of the struggles we all face.If you enjoy a good drama, a story that slowly reveals the history behind the events you first see, this is the movie for you..
August Wilson at his Best.
Anyone who doesn't "understand" this movie probably doesn't understand African Americans.
It's a beautiful, poignant piece about a family and an heirloom piano.
I don't like everything August Wilson has done but this one is a gem.
The interaction between the characters is top notch.
Alfre Woodward is in her element.
For those who don't care for Charles Dutton, I know what they mean, but that's the way he acts -- in everything.
It's much more effective on the stage than on the screen.
As another reviewer has suggested, I also identify with every character.
I have uncles just like these men.
It's nice to see a movie that really touches you where you live and come from..
Simple and nice.
I liked the movie and its music.
The best scene is the one when they sing about Alberta.
I also think that actors realisticaly played the rolls of old time peoples way of communication.
I love that home feeling in the Berinces house.It also true that the story is simple and looks more like the gossip, that someone would tell you about people seeing a ghost..
Piano Lesson is wonderful: A play brought to life..
In all truth, I watched this by mistake, thinking i was about to see the 2006 film by the same name.
Although I still have to see the new film, this take of Piano Lesson was a nice surprise.
Funny, smart, touching - it had it all.
The storyline is great, evolving just at the right pace, without being too expected (as in Boring) or too melodramatic (as in Not my cup of tea).
The plot has twists and turns, the characters are 3-D and interesting and the actors convincingly bring them to life.
As I said - a very nice surprise for me, and I'm about to watch this all over again - this time with my boyfriend.
I give it an easy 10 out of 10.
Wonderful.
>> Kim B.
>> http://www.reviewsnest.com.
A family's past or its future - which is more important?.
This play is not as simple as it first appears.
There is great complexity in all of the major characters, especially in Bernice.
And the use of the 'jazz set' model instead of the traditional Aristotelian'plot graph' makes all the difference!
The language of the play is music itself, and eventually erupts into song.
This is a wonderful debate on the importance of the past and the future in the lives of these characters, symbolized by the piano which has been passed down through the family.
A cast full of excellent actors brings it to life.
Loved it!
I hope 'The Piano Lesson' and the other plays in Wilson's ten-play cycle will soon be available on film..
very funny.
You have to come up in a certain culture to understand the overreactions of Charles S.
Dutton.
They really weren't overreactions, but what makes the film so comical is that there were (and still are) African-Americans that behave that way.
What makes it funny is that we all at some point have relatives that are like those in the movie, esp.
the part where he comes to visit early in the morning unannounced and expects everyone to get up to greet him.
We also have some Uncle Doakers who minds his own business and some con artists like Uncle Whining Boy. Now the part I do agree on is the supernatural aspect of the film.
With all the joking and jesting going on, it does drown out the concept meaning it doesn't fit.
Otherwise it's a good movie if you want to have a good laugh..
Strange Movie.
This movie is a weird mix of a ghost story and a drama.
The story is in the beginning vague and when you continue watching it, it becomes clearer and clearer, but it does not suck you into the story and make you want to see how it ends, maybe because the director made it more dramatic then scary.I do not remember any background music in the movie, which makes it more special.
The music is coming from the actors themselves, which was amazing to me and I must say to the actors: well done!.
The Piano Is More About Music In This Film!.
Based on the August Wilson play, the cast is first rate with Alfre Woodard, Charles Dutton, Lou Myers, Courtney B.
Vance and others in this film.
The film was produced for the classic Hallmark Hall of Fame.
I didn't see the play so I don't know of the differences.
There is a lot of dialogue among the cast to help believability.
Back when they aired television movies on networks, Hallmark Hall of Fame produced the finest quality of films with cast and writing.
This film is worth viewing at least once..
rate 7 this is above average PLAY.
i emphasize Play because it seems that earlier commentators think Dutton over emotes.
all the actors are convincing.
this is not to say that all Afro-Americans always acted this way in the 30's.
Indeed some act this way today when they feel comfortable .
her uncle probably wouldn't be singing in the house except that he felt comfortable singing with these guys around a bottle of whiskey.
to say this is merely a ghost story is to miss the point.
this like A Raisen In The Sun where the man sees an opportunity to finally own a piece of the rock and a member of his family will not part with the means to acquire it.
Also, there is quite a lot more going on here if you watch the play a second time, as i did..
There's a reason why this is made for TV.
This is a TV film based off a play.
It should have stayed a play, because it just plain isn't good enough to be a movie.
It's a very hokey sort of piece, mostly because of the bad acting and the weak ending.Hmmm, what else can I say about this film in order to fill up the required minimum?
I don't really know.
It's a mundane sort of thing that your teacher makes you watch in theater class because (s)he can't show the really good stuff (or because (s)he has really tame tastes in what is considered engaging drama).I'll admit, this movie is socially significant, and August Wilson did a fine job with the original storyline.
But this made-for-TV thing is just verbatim crap.Final grade: 4/10.
A movie you will either like or hate.
I must confess I always have difficulty with some of the made for TV movies that I get to watch on my pay tv channels here in Australia.The Piano lesson is once such movie.The story line seems to have no real purpose other than a sibling squabble over a family piano.
And I am not sure as to what the "supernatural" element to the movie is supposed to do in relation to enhancing the story.
Without the absurdity of this, it may have passed as an acceptable "Afro american" period movie.I am not a big Charles Dutton fan and I feel there is an element of overacting at times with his character who I dislike more and more as the movie goes on.For me a 4/10 and that was being kind