Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive
A Noise Within’s production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is ANW’s seventh mounting since 2019 of August Wilson’s 10 “American Century Cycle” plays, directed by Gregg T. Daniel, and in my humble opinion, it is the best one I’ve seen so far. Wilson’s wide ranging decalogue of dramas about African Americans are also known as the “Pittsburgh Cycle” because each of the 10 productions occur in a different decade of the 20th century, mostly at that Pennsylvania city. However, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is set in Chicago in 1927. Read more…