Directed by JENNIFER L. NELSON
March 19 - April 27, 2008

The ninth of August Wilson's 10-play cycle starts with Aunt Ester's 287th birthday. When Citizen Barlow washes up on the front stairs of Aunt Ester's home in Pittsburgh, she sends him off to find a magical city in the middle of the ocean. Redolent with beautiful language, wit, and mischievous humor, "Gem" pulls us along on his spiritual journey. Set in the early 1900s and thus the first play chronologically in Wilson's decade-by-decade cycle, the play continues the master playwright's exploration of the African-American struggle with a provocative blend of realism and mysticism.

"Transporting in the best sense of the word. Just as the ship carries characters in the play to a place of redemption and healing, the show launches the audience on an expedition of its own." –Baltimore Sun [Review]

"This glorius production alternately sings and moans and screams. You will leave the theater changed – standards higher, emotions on full alert – and it will stay with you for days." –BroadwayWorld.com [Review]

Doug Brown, Kevin Jiggetts, Keith N. Johnson, Stephen Patrick Martin, Lizan Mitchell, Jefferson A. Russell, and Dawn Ursula.