42 pages • 1 hour read
Radio Golf
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Background
Series Context: The Century Cycle
Radio Golf is the final installment in August Wilson’s Century Cycle, also known as the Pittsburgh Cycle, a series of ten plays exploring the Black experience in the United States throughout the 20th century. Each play is set in a different decade, capturing the struggles, triumphs, and evolving identity of African Americans in a changing nation. Radio Golf takes place in the 1990s and is Wilson’s final work. Wilson’s ambition for the Cycle was to reflect the African American experience in the 20th century. The series is the cornerstone of his career, cementing his legacy as one of the most influential African American playwrights. Among the numerous accolades Wilson received for his work, he was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes: one for Fences (1987) and another for The Piano Lesson (1990).
All the plays in the Century Cycle, except Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, are set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, the neighborhood where Wilson grew up. The plays are interconnected in subtle ways, but each can stand alone. Aunt Ester, for instance, appears in Gem of the Ocean (2003), the earliest-set play in the cycle, and is mentioned or referenced in three others: Two Trains Running (1990), King Hedley II (1999), and Radio Golf. Said to be born in 1619, Aunt Ester represents the spiritual and cultural heritage of African Americans. In Radio Golf, the house at 1839 Wylie Avenue used to be Aunt Ester’s home, connecting the final play to the first and conveying the theme of The Importance of Preserving Historical Memory.
Geographical Context: Pittsburgh’s Hill District
Pittsburgh’s Hill District is the central setting for Radio Golf. During the early and mid-20th century, the Hill District was a thriving hub of Black culture, earning the nickname “crossroads of the world,” a term coined by poet Claude McKay. The neighborhood was renowned for its flourishing arts scene, particularly in jazz music, and influenced figures like jazz musician Billy Strayhorn and August Wilson himself, who grew up there. Despite its cultural richness, much of the Hill’s housing was substandard. In the 1950s, large portions of the area were slated for redevelopment, displacing approximately 8,000 residents, most of whom were Black (“The Hill District: History.” Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh). This redevelopment led to a dramatic economic decline, with the Hill losing around 70% of its population between 1950 and 1990. Wilson’s Radio Golf directly engages with these issues of urban redevelopment and its consequences for marginalized communities.
Set in 1997, the play centers Black mayoral candidate Harmond Wilks, who envisions revitalizing the declining Hill District with modern businesses and new housing. His vision includes attracting upscale brands like Starbucks and Whole Foods, which he believes will attract people back to the area: “We’re going to redevelop this whole area. We’ll get the Hill District growing so fast, people from all over will start moving back” (21). However, this redevelopment comes at a significant moral cost, as it risks erasing the neighborhood’s cultural history. The planned demolition of the house at 1839 Wylie Avenue, once the home of Aunt Ester, epitomizes this conflict. The house symbolizes the Hill District’s historical memory and cultural legacy, and its destruction represents the erasure of the identity and heritage that define the community.
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