The piano on the set of was not a mere prop. It could be played and the cast members often did. It was adorned with pictures of the Washington family and their ancestors. It was, John David Washington jokes, 鈥淣o. 1 on the call sheet.鈥�
鈥淲e tried to haunt the piano itself, to charge it with that kind of spirit,鈥� says Malcolm Washington, the film鈥檚 director and John David鈥檚 brother.
In 鈥淭he Piano Lesson,鈥� August Wilson鈥檚 1987 play, the piano is a central symbol of heritage, the past and survival. In 1930s Pittsburgh, it sits, unplayed, in the home of Berniece Charles ( ), having been passed down as a family heirloom from the days of slavery. But Berenice鈥檚 visiting brother, Boy Willie ( ), wants to sell it to buy the Mississippi land upon which their ancestors once toiled as slaves.
鈥淭he Piano Lesson,鈥� which is currently playing in theaters and debuts Friday on Netflix, is an impassioned family drama but it is also a profound ghost story. For the Charles family, wrangling over the piano is a reckoning with their family鈥檚 past, and the legacy of slavery. At its bone-rattling crescendo, it鈥檚 an exorcism.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an exorcism and a possession,鈥� says Deadwyler. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e releasing the thing that never worked and inviting in the thing that was always present but you might not have known.鈥�
Adapting 鈥淭he Piano Lesson,鈥� a play about ancestors and heritage, was fittingly a work of family. It鈥檚 the third in a sterling string of Wilson adaptations produced by following and But it鈥檚 the first Washington mostly left to his family to make.
鈥淐ostanza, August鈥檚 widow, came to me I don鈥檛 know how many years ago and asked me to shepherd these plays. I said, 鈥業鈥檓 the man for the job,鈥�" Washington said an interview alongside producer Todd Black. "So I鈥檝e been more of an administrator. I read the play a couple times to think about how can we get this made, is this a movie? In this case, a week or so into shooting, I was like, 鈥楾here鈥檚 nothing for me to do. This kid knows what he鈥檚 doing. He鈥檚 done his homework. I鈥檓 just hanging around.鈥欌��
If Denzel Washington has been moved to carry on the tradition of Wilson by a sense of legacy, it鈥檚 something he passes down in 鈥淭he Piano Lesson.鈥� The film marks 33, who also co-wrote the script with Virgil Williams.
John David Washington, the and star, made his Wilson debut in a 2022 Broadway production of 鈥淭he Piano Lesson,鈥� playing Boy Willie. That production also featured Samuel L. Jackson, who originated the role of Boy Willie in 1987 at the Yale Repertory Theatre, playing Berniece and Boy Willie's uncle, Doaker Charles, a role he carries over in the film.
鈥淵ou have all these great artists playing these notes 鈥� you have the OGs, the Wilsonians, playing it,鈥� says John David. 鈥淭hen you have the newcomers playing it. You start jamming together and you find it together.鈥�
In Wilson, there's no greater musicality than the language, the blues poetry of Wilson's slang-drenched rhythms. The brash, fast-talking Boy Willie, in particular, is a verbal force 鈥� one that John David was enthralled by.
鈥淚t feels freaking so good when the truth is coming out and you know the truth is coming out and you鈥檙e discovering new meanings in these monologues that you go over and over in your head,鈥� says John David. 鈥淲hen it鈥檚 happening, it鈥檚 a beautiful feeling. I live for those moments.鈥�
For the actors, finding the music of 鈥淭he Piano Lesson鈥� meant channeling generations worth of pain and perseverance in Black American life. Much of it they understood instinctually. Some of it they found together.
鈥淏erniece has a massive amount of weight and put on top of that is grief and loss and longing,鈥� says Deadwyler, 鈥淭hose are things that have been with me and in women I鈥檝e witnessed all my life. You think about the lives these women have lived and you carry it and you bear it.鈥�
The cast and filmmakers were also mindful of a legacy of performance they were working in. When during the shoot, Malcolm played a song of his on set. The day before 鈥淭he Piano Lesson鈥� played at the Toronto International Film Festival, , who starred in the original production of 鈥淔ences,鈥� died.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 grow up watching movies. And I didn鈥檛 get in the business for movies. I wanted to be James Earl Jones,鈥� says Denzel. 鈥淚 was thinking of theater. To be honest with you, when I started, there weren鈥檛 a whole lot of Black people for me to be like. We weren鈥檛 the leading men.鈥�
For Denzel, August Wilson became a lifeblood.
鈥淭hese are the best roles around," he says. "Everybody wants 鈥榚m. I want 鈥檈m.鈥�
In the film's dramatic third act, when the supernatural enters, Deadwyler could feel presences in the room. This is when 鈥淭he Piano Lesson鈥� quakes open with all of the pain and tragedy it has been building toward. The walls 鈥� hung with photos of the actors' own relatives 鈥� shake. Deadwyler, Malcolm says, was gone. She was somewhere else.
鈥淚 do recall when the ancestors were coming into the room,鈥� Deadwyler says. 鈥淢y eyes are closed a lot, but people carry energy. And I knew when they came in. The breath shifts.鈥�
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
