Connect with Fences playwright Wilson in Pittsburgh’s Hill District

PITTSBURGH Fans of Fences may be disappointed that the film won just one Oscar. But a pilgrimage to playwright August Wilson’s hometown of Pittsburgh might offer some consolation.

Fences is one of 10 plays that Wilson wrote chronicling AfricanAmerican life. Nine of the plays are set in Pittsburgh.

The city’s Hill District, where Wilson grew up, offers a rich map of places connected to him.

“I left Pittsburgh but Pittsburgh never left me,” he once said. “I have a fierce affection for the Hill District and the people who raised me, who have sanctioned my life and ultimately provided it with meaning.”

Denzel Washington, who directed Fences, filmed the movie in Pittsburgh.

Washington, who portrayed Fences protagonist Troy Maxson, didn’t win the Oscar for best actor.

But co-star Viola Davis won best supporting actress for a dignified portrayal of Troy’s wife Rose.

Wilson lived with his mother Daisy and six siblings at 1727 Bedford Ave. from his birth in 1945 until 1958. Their two-room, cold-water flat was upstairs and around the back from a grocery store called Bella’s Market.

In Fences, Troy says he’d rather shop at Bella’s than at a supermarket because the folks there treated him right. The building is now called the August Wilson House. It’s under renovation and expected to open in April 2018, according to Paul Ellis, the project’s executive director and Wilson’s nephew. Ellis’ mother Freda was Wilson’s sister.

Wilson’s play Seven Guitars is set in the building’s backyard.

Paul’s sister Kimberly Ellis, founder of the Historic Hill Institute and digital director of the August Wilson House, offers customized tours of the neighbourhood. She describes herself as “a Wilson scholar who happens to be his niece.”