Playwright’s impact shows in ‘Voice’ film
“Giving Voice” opens with a shot of a hilly Pittsburgh street. A voiceover done by the late Pittsburgh playwright August Wilson chimes in over the cityscape: “We’re in the process now of making a choice about our future, and I think it would benefit us to see what our past is.”
Then the new documentary expands to young, mostly Black children in Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta and New York City attempting to connect with that history, highlighting the reach Wilson’s stories continue to have long after his death in 2005.
The film, currently available on Netflix, chronicles the journeys of six participants in the 2018 August Wilson Monologue Competition. Each high school student has something to overcome, with issues ranging from money woes to unsupportive parents to rough surroundings. All said, they find their own voices through his carefully crafted language.
One of the students in the competition, Gerardo Navarro of Los Angeles, is currently studying acting at Carnegie Mellon University.
“Giving Voice” also features testimonials from some of Wilson’s biggest and most famous fans, including Denzel Washington, Viola Davis and Stephen McKinley Henderson, all of whom starred in the 2016 film adaptation of his 1985 play “Fences.” Davis also stars in the Wilson adaptation “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which begins streaming Friday on Netflix.
“Giving Voice” is an excellent companion piece to that film, providing context on the impact one of Pittsburgh’s favorite sons has had far outside the confines of his native Hill District.