August Wilson's Ground 6th Annual Lecture Series (FREE)

The August Wilson Society (AWS), in co-sponsorship with the Department of Theatre Arts in the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University, is proud to announce its 6th Annual Ground Lecture Series featuring Chuck Smith. We are equally excited to announce that Smith will receive the 2024 August Wilson Society Exemplar Award. Smith is a resident director at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and a resident director at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe in Sarasota, Florida.

The evening will include an engaging discussion with Smith about his work with August Wilson and his plays, performances from the Howard Players, and closing with a wonderful reception. The discussion will be led by Willa Taylor, the former Walter Director of Education and Community Engagement at Goodman Theatre and the inaugural recipient of the Exemplar Award.

The August Wilson's Ground lectures provide a space to examine a range of topics related to Wilson’s American Century Cycle plays, to become better educated about the playwright, and to explore Wilson's dramatic work as sources of resilience and resistance. These well-attended gatherings also uncover areas of much-needed scholarship and ultimately raise the bar for August Wilson Studies. Previous speakers have included the late Paul Carter Harrison, Phylicia Rashad, Sandra Richards, Wali Jamal, Psyche Williams-Forson, Omiyemi Artisia Green, Nemata Blyden, and Molefi Asante.

Host or Publisher August Wilson Society