Radio Golf to close

By Amy Somensky Jun 13, 2007, 3:10 GMT

In Radio Golf, Harmond Wilks is a charming and powerful African-American politician who is running for the highest office of his career, with the loving support of his savvy wife, Mame. As Harmond steps into political prominence, the past is just a few steps behind him ... and gaining fast. ...more

New York: Radio Golf, the final play in August Wilson's ten-play cycle chronicling the African-American experience in America, will play its final performance at the Cort Theater on July 1st. The production will have played 64 performances and received 4 2007 Tony nominations including Best Play.

"Radio Golf marks the culmination of a great work, unquestionably the most significant accomplishment by any American playwright in the second half of the 20th century," producer and longtime Wilson collaborator Jack Viertel said in a statement. "It is doubly astonishing that this feat was achieved by an African-American writer born in Pittsburgh's ghetto, who was largely self-educated, but determined to make a mark that the world would never forget. There's no doubt that August Wilson achieved that goal and finished his marathon with his most contemporary and accessible play, and his funniest. August gave us a world of wonderful, deeply drawn characters, and great, heartbreakingly human stories. Radio Golf has an abundance of both. It's been an honor to be associated with August Wilson's work."

"Radio Golf in New York City is a song of love to August Wilson because everyone involved put the absolute best part of themselves into this project out of sheer dedication and recognition of this playwright's historic legacy. Indeed, I could not be more proud of what we achieved, for Radio Golf majestically completes August's life's mission — a 10-play century cycle marking for all time August Wilson's place in the history of the American theatre," Wilson's widow Constanza Romero said in a statement.

Headlining the production is Harry Lennix as Harmond Wilks and Tonya Pinkins as Mame. Starring alongside them is Anthony Chisholm as Elder Joseph Barlow, John Earl Jelks as Sterling Johnson, and James A. Williams as Roosevelt Hicks.

The creative team includes set design by David Gallo, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Donald Holder, and sound design by Dan Moses Schreier. Kenny Leon directs.

Radio Golf was finished months before the playwright's death on October 2, 2005 from liver cancer.

In Radio Golf, Harmond Wilks is a charming and powerful African-American politician who is running for the highest office of his career, with the loving support of his savvy wife, Mame. As Harmond steps into political prominence, the past is just a few steps behind him ... and gaining fast.

For tickets to the final performances of Radio Golf visit tickets.monstersandcritics.com.