The last of August Wilson's 10-play cycle set predominantly in Pittsburgh's Hill District, Radio Golf, now running at Studio Theatre (to 7/19), is a hard-hitting drama that comes off more as a prize fight than finesse on the links.   Ostensibly an examination of the responsibilities of the black middle class, it seems to strike a bit higher up the food-chain in the realm of developers and the superrich and those aspiring to be. 

Radio Golf falls into the category of a well-made play, a tragicomedy, with conflicts, characters, laughs, and provocative themes that will stay with you long after you've gone home.  Golf is used as a metaphor for making it in the white man's (or any) world, a kind of pure freedom, a test of character.  The place where it is played - the country club - is the site of the insider, where the privileged meet to trade information, realize dreams, and close deals.  

Directed at a fast clip by Ron Himes with hardly a beat in the non-stop action, the play immediately draws you in with quick-witted verbal displays and striking movement.  The actors are given the latitude to develop and explore their characters fully.  

Once an African-American cultural Mecca, The Hill is in steep decline at the time of the play (1997) where there's a land grab of sorts going on as Act I opens. Real estate developer and potential mayoral candidate Harmond Wilks (Walter Coppage), together with best friend and business colleague Roosevelt Hicks (Kim Sullivan), seek to turn an area of urban blight into a mixed-use commercial and residential site, reaping a financial windfall in the process.  They are joined in these endeavors by Wilks' wife Mame (Deidra Starnes) who is also looking after her own interests as a likely press representative for the state governor.    

As they move into their faded office, a toned down set designed by Daniel Conway with a brown/green/blue color palette, they are visited separately by two minor characters, Sterling Johnson (Erik Kilpatrick) a self-employed contractor and ex-con and Elder Joseph Barlow (Frederick Strother) a neighborhood old timer and gadfly, who set up the major conflicts of the play: one involving morality, the other justice.  There's a fly in the ointment: Old Joe's home, of questionable title, stands smack dab in the center of the Bedford Hills Redevelopment.     

Act II probes the intra-racial tensions in the black community, really not much different than the divisions between the haves and the have-nots in any group, which are delivered as well-timed broadsides or body blows, with first one side then the other ahead on points.  

Mr. Coppage is the quiet force at the center of the storm until the finale, when the moment of truth arrives for his character.  Harmond Wilks is almost a tragic figure, standing on principle - trying to do the right thing for the right reasons - while those closest to him are looking for their main chance.  He wants to go through the front door, while his wife and friend choose to go in the back, on somebody else's coattails. Ms. Starnes captures the humanity of Mame, not sure of whom she married or where she will end up in the aftermath.  Mr. Sullivan completely nails the street-smart Roosevelt, a KMA guy, alternately pugnacious and adaptable; the savvy entrepreneur will definitely land on his feet.

The versatile Mr. Strother appears light years away from his last performance as the spit-and-polish General Colin Powell in Stuff Happens at Olney Theatre.  He meanders in and out of scenes delivering some of the most poignant, and in Mr. Strother's capable hands, funny lines, pulled out of thin air.  Mr. Kilpatrick is convincing as the moral force in this universe - one you don't want to mess with and definitely want on your side when you go into battle - calling out any and all who oppose his views of right and wrong.

Costumes designed by Reggie Ray really showed the characters to best advantage, but especially those adorning Ms. Wilks and Mr. Hicks.  Mr. Ray's attention to color, detail, and the physicality of the actor were exceptional.  Sound by Neil McFadden had a nice mix of light jazz and R & B, with a riff on the Star Spangled Banner by Jimi Hendix tossed into a suitable scene.  Lighting by Colin Bills created ambience and accented the faux backdrop of the dilapidated urban neighborhood.   

Mr. Wilson had his hand on the political pulse of Pittsburgh in a few key respects.  You will look long and hard at the list of First Black Mayors provided in the program to find one from that city: there isn't and hasn't been one yet.  And when they do elect one, they may indeed change the rules, since the city falls within Allegheny County where the county executive (since 2000) holds a sizable presence, and along with the city's declining population base, the mayor could very well lose power.    

While the racial issues are central to the play, the question of personal freedom - the individual against the corporate interests or those of society - is worth considering, especially today.  Eminent domain is almost a law of the land and what the government can't coerce, it will seize.  Bedford Hills is not a government acquisition, but you can be sure a ruling judge would be sympathetic to community-centered arguments and precedent.  As Roosevelt correctly notes, that house is coming down, whether we like it or not.    

Dramaturgically, I didn't feel the legal or political issue was big enough to sink Mr. Wilks' candidacy.  Anything short of a sex scandal or bona fide criminal charge would fade fast in the primaries.  The play ends on an optimistic note when it might have been more powerful and interesting as a tragedy.  All the ingredients were there: a flawed but noble character brought down just about when he had victory within his grasp, but a playwright who had a 10-cycle play as a project (and what a project!), is by definition an optimist, and maybe we are all the better for it.

This was a thoroughly entertaining evening of theater to my mind and the audience, most of who stood in applause, must have felt so too.  Perhaps the playwright has written better plays and perhaps there have been better performances of Radio Golf in the past, but this is a very good one here at the Studio, and a very good August Wilson play is, in my estimation, a cause for rejoicing. 

Sound check: Low to moderate sound levels

Program notes: Good.  They might combine portions of the dramaturgy notes they offer for 8 dollars and/or lower the price to encourage exploration of the play

Applause meter: Highly recommended, 4 hands

Photo credit: Scott Suchman