August Wilson's legacy

In The Guardian, John Lahr considers the life and legacy of American playwright August Wilson.

August Wilson liked to say his plays were "fat with substance". And he was right: his 10-play cycle - Wilson wrote one for every roiling decade of the African-American experience in the 20th century - transforms historical tragedy into imaginative triumph. The blues are catastrophe expressed lyrically; so are Wilson's plays, which swing with the pulse of the African-American people, as they moved from property to personhood.