Intense heat that could peel that paint off of walls, a bottle of whiskey, the pounding of fists and stomping feet, and the soulful singing of four black men around a kitchen table — this is an excerpt from a scene in tonight's opening production of The Piano Lesson performed by the School of Theatre and directed by Charles Dumas, an associate professor of Theatre.

Dumas has directed several other pieces such as A Raisin in the Sun, Once on this Island, The Diary of Anne Frank and Fences, another Wilson play, just to name a few. Dumas is thrilled to be directing this particular production.

"How wonderful it is to do a play by one of our neighbors," Dumas said.

The play is set in the Hill District, a predominantly black, lower-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh in 1937. The Charles family has an ornately carved piano collecting dust in the parlor of their home that tells the history of their family. Boy Willie, played by Wayne T. Carr, wants to sell the piano so his family can buy the Mississippi land they worked on as slaves.

However, his sister, Berniece, played by Monifi Jones, does not want to part with instrument that has their family history carved right into its very panels. The struggle the family goes through while making this monumental decision is the true "piano lesson."

The Piano Lesson made its debut at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1987 and later went to Broadway in 1990. The show went on to win a Tony Award, the Drama Critics Circle Award, the American Theatre Critics Outstanding Play Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

The award winning play was also adapted for television and was turned into a Hallmark Hall of Fame production in 1995.

"August Wilson simply is one of America's greatest living playwrights. His plays touch the very fabric of what it is to be a stranger in this strange land," Dumas said. "Piano Lesson speaks to the contradiction that is within all of us — do we sacrifice dreams of prosperity in this world for spiritual centeredness?"

Wilson was originally named after his father, Frederick August Kittel, and was born in the Hill District of Pittsburgh on April 27, 1945. His father was a white German baker and his mother, Daisy Wilson, a black cleaning lady. After his family was rejected by his father, Wilson retaliated by taking his mother's surname.

Wilson was a straight-A student, but dropped out of school in ninth grade because a teacher accused him of plagiarism. He continued to read and study on his own and later joined the Army.

After being discharged he decided he was going to be a writer. He received his inspiration by spending time on street corners and at a local cigar shop where he listened to people's stories.

Wilson went on to write Jitney, Fullerton Street, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Two Trains Running and Seven Guitars.

To prepare for the show, the cast traveled to Pittsburgh to visit the Hill District and went to various black churches in the area. They went to see Jitney, which is being performed in New York.

The entire cast is excited about performing this piece. Syeed Malik, a set carpenter for the School of Theatre who is playing the part of Doaker, said "I believe this is an important piece of work because it allows other audiences to see where we all come from," Malik said.

The Piano Lesson will run today and tomorrow and from Nov. 6 to 11 at the Pavilion Theatre. Ticket prices are $8.50 for student and child evening tickets and $10.50 for adults. Tickets for the Nov. 11 matinee are $6.50 for students and $9.50 for adults.