The Piano Lesson
Act one
How does the author establish the mood?
How does the author establish the mood?
Wilson hits the ground running in the first scene of The Piano Lesson. We open in the Charles household, but with a visitor at the door. There is no period of observing the status quo before the play’s triggering incident – the triggering incident brings the curtain up. And as in a Greek drama, the triggering incident is the arrival of a messenger at dawn. A whole network of family, friends, and enemies – and their histories and conflicts – are fluidly established in this opening scene.