The August Wilson Way Portal

The August Wilson Way Portal is a twelve-foot high sculptured doorway constructed of steel in honor of the late playwright, August Wilson (1945 - 2005). A work of public art, it was dedicated by the City of Seattle and the Seattle Repertory Theater Company in 2008. Wilson was a renowned playwright whose work portrayed the history of African Americans throughout the twentieth century. Hailed as the American Shakespeare, he began his career as a poet before becoming a playwright. Wilson’s plays have been produced on Broadway and at regional theaters around the country, while also being adapted for film. He maintained a lifelong collaboration with the Seattle Rep, one of the first theaters to have produced his epic ten-part American Century Cycle in its entirety. In addition to receiving a Tony Award, Wilson was twice awarded a Pulitzer Prize for two of the plays in his American Century Cycle.

The August Wilson Way Portal was created to honor the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning playwright, August Wilson (1945 - 2005). Raised in Pittsburgh, Wilson developed a long-term collaboration with the Seattle Repertory Theater Company, which produced many of his plays, and he spent his final years living in Seattle. Although he initially worked as a poet during the early years of his career, he began writing theatrical works in the late 1970s, with his first play, Jitney, performed in 1979. Wilson sought to express the African American experience in the 20th century by engaging with themes of family, community, identity, and history, while also directly addressing the problem of racism in the U.S. His plays have been performed on Broadway and at regional theaters throughout the country.

The Portal was installed at the entrance to the August Wilson Way, a special stretch of Republican Street that runs through the Seattle Center Campus. Because Wilson premiered many of his plays on the main stage of the Seattle Repertory Theater Company, the Portal was installed adjacent to the Rep's Bagley Wright Theater and Leo Kreielsheimer Theater. A highly conceptual work of art in its own right, the August Wilson Portal features a red door with a doorframe constructed from steel, which was chosen for its durability and longevity. It was also intended to symbolize Wilson's childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a city known for its steel industry. The Portal's doorframe weighs a total of 3,000 pounds, and the heft of the sculpture is symbolic of the weight of Wilson's ideas.

On the Portal's red door, a brass letterbox labeled "Stories" gives people an opportunity to share their own personal and collective experiences through writing. This collaborative, artistic detail reflects how Wilson encouraged audiences to examine and learn from history, while finding wisdom through the communication of individual and shared experiences. Some of his plays have already been adapted for film, with plans currently underway for a film adaptation of all ten plays in his American Century Cycle, which includes Jitney, Fences, The Piano Lesson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Gem of the Ocean, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. In 1987, Wilson won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for Fences, and he received a second Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for The Piano Lesson.

"August Wilson Way," Lehrman Cameron Studio. Accessed June 19th 2021. http://lehrmancameron.com/portfolio-item/august-wilson-way/.

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"Seattle Rep: Who We Are (Timeline: 1983 - 1993)", Seattle Rep. Accessed August 25th, 2023. https://www.seattlerep.org/about-us/who-we-are/timeline/1983-2/.

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