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King Hedley IIPart of The August Wilson Century CycleDateline: 8th July, 2008Even though it is set in 1985, King Hedley II at times feels more like a Western than a contemporary drama located in Pittsburgh. Focusing on a colourful central character, this play is a sequel to Seven Guitars as an honourable Citizen is compelled to relive the experiences of the man whom he believes to be his father. The play opens with the dramatic news that Aunt Ester, the 366-year-old matriarch of this community, has at last died. She is the link between slavery and the era of technology and with her passing, not only is a tradition lost but possibly, a new freedom offered. This is symbolically represented by the seeds that King tries to grow in his own dirt, as a proof of real worth. King Hedley II is a typical August Wilson hero, packed with flaws to match a symbolic scar but trying to live his life honourably, as he sees it. His mother, Ruby who effectively abandoned him, is a thorn in King's flesh, while his wife Tonya struggles with the ghost of a predecessor and the continuous cycle of teen pregnancies. She is a strong-minded woman who recognizes her husband's need for an heir but has seen enough of life's harshness to be wary of bringing a child into the world. King is keen to provide for his woman and when conventional means do not wor,.lLike so many others in this sequence, he and his sidekick, Mister resort to alternatives that are likely to leave them in jail. Our man is already familiar with bars, having followed his father's precedent and killed someone over the worst kind of insult, trying to take his name away. In addition to these characters, the action is moved along by the eccentric Stool Pigeon, part Bible-spouting madman, part seer who narrates, while at the same time linking the past with the present. This edition includes an afterword, originally published in the New York Times, in which August Wilson puts the first eight plays in his Century Cycle into political and social context, succinctly explaining his intentions but with great clarity. This complements before word from the regular director of his later plays, Marion McClinton. He both looks at King Hedley II and the Cycle adding to our understanding of both. Philip Fisher Philip reviewed a production of King Hedley II at the Tricycle, Kilburn, in 2002
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