02/06/2017
I went to see August Wilson’s play, “King Hedley II”, in Los Angeles last week. It was a deeply moving play. The performances were award winning, set in an intimate theater where each character’s tears were felt and their rage penetrated the air.
August Wilson was a prolific play write who expressed the African-American condition in a cannon series spanning 10 decades. The plays are wordy, filled with intense passion and challenging plighted life conditions that can only be described as disturbing and liberating all at the same time. His work is a real look into the consciousness of choice and how, by the choices made one can take control of their life direction or remain stuck in believing life has control over them.
As I watched this play, the fourth one I’ve seen in the series, I really began to understand how every minute decision is a choice with repercussions that can span anywhere from a few hours to an entire life time. It was interesting to note how fear, misconception of beliefs, how one sees and thinks of himself and the influences of outside beliefs from others shape the decisions made without any mindfulness of how that cause brings about an effect. There it was in full 3D color, only 5 feet in front of me, the dramatization of life that so many choose, one decision at a time.
The interesting fact is most people, including me, make some decisions which ultimately do not support conscious choices toward a desired outcome. In the face of fear; the face of desperation; the face of lack; the face of smallness; the face of helplessness; and so forth decisions are made hurriedly and haphazardly. As a result, the energy driving the decision causes the creation of an unfavorable outcome. These are the unconscious decisions we make. These are the outcomes we then blame everyone else for.
Mesmerized by what I saw I couldn’t help thinking, “If only he had decided this or that... if only she had made this particular decision a while ago” and so on. Then I began thinking about my own life and how for so long I gave up my personal desires to what others wanted or thought I should have. I have better clarity now on how I blamed others; those who I believed didn’t support me with my dreams. I became acutely aware of how the characters in the play found it easier to blame the direction of their lives on someone else; to pin life’s undesirable moments and events on something else rather than accepting responsibility for what lies within. Aren’t we all guilty of that?
It takes a person with deep personal commitment and discipline to move away from blame, of any kind, into taking full blown responsibility for the personal choices made. The truth be told, not all choices, even the conscious ones, deliver what we expect, what we want or how we want it, all the time. But knowing that we have the power to make new choices and the wherewithal in deciding to back them with faith and action, we can turn lemons into lemonade.
If you have not seen any of August Wilson’s plays I encourage you to do so. The film, Fences is playing in theaters around the country, currently. And if you are visiting or live in Los Angeles County, purchase your tickets for King Hedley II. It is playing at The Matrix Theater on Melrose Avenue until February 12th. Here’s how you can purchase tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/august-wilsons-king-hedley-ii-directed-by-michele-shay-tickets-30881340922.
Be encouraged by August Wilson’s dynamic stories. For, if you cannot fully comprehend the short and long term effects of the choices you’ve made or are about to make, you will have a summit view of how the experiences from any choice are created from decisions that support or do not support desired goals. They will help you breathe a moment before making a decision, move into a higher awareness of what you are about to decide and then carry you into a bird’s eye view of what’s best for you.
"King Hedley II" is written by August Wilson, the famed playwright who brought us the Pulitzer Prize winning play "Fences" which recently premiered as a movie starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Synopsis Upon returning home to Pittsburgh after a stint in prison, King Hedley ll strives to g*i...
