Set in a Pittsburgh boarding house in 1911, owners Seth and Bertha Holly play host to a makeshift family of people who come to stay – some for days, some longer – seeking new jobs, new lives and new beginnings. This eccentric group of wanderers includes proprietors, an eccentric clairvoyant with a penchant for old country voodoo, a young homeboy from the South and a mysterious stranger searching for his wife. Each denizen of the boarding house has a different relationship to a past of slavery as well as to the urban present. This lyrical play is part of August Wilson’s American Century Cycle, which charts the African-American experience through each decade of the 20th century.

To widen the post-show conversation and discuss what the art onstage means to us as individuals and as a society, the Alliance will facilitate a community conversation through a talkback on March 17. Talkbacks allow the audience to ask questions and express their thoughts, ideas on issues revealed in the play through the form of meaningful discussion with the cast or panel guests. The opportunity is included with ticket purchase.