It's generally agreed that Radio Golf is not the best work in August Wilson's 10-play cycle that chronicles American life as seen from Pittsburgh's Hill district, a place the playwright knew only too well. However, while viewing a production of Radio Golf by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, one sadly is reminded that Wilson's last play is the final echo of a powerful theatrical voice.
Radio Golf may not be perfect, but it does a good job in reinforcing the themes Wilson has explored throughout the 10-play cycle. As in most of Wilson's other plays, Radio Golf is populated by rich, fully developed characters living in the Hill district. They survive not by virtue of higher education, but by the "street smarts" they've acquired over the years. In Radio Golf, however, the main character is neither poor nor uneducated. Harmond is a successful real estate developer who wants to be Pittsburgh's next mayor. He is sharp, idealistic, sentimental and enthusiastic. His well-dressed wife, Mame, is Harmond's campaign manager. We glimpse a crack in this solid marriage when Harmond muses on the possibility of moving back to the blighted Hill district. "Don't you know that some white folks think all of us (African-Americans) live in the Hill district?" Mame spits out. The remark reflects her lifelong struggle to get out of the Hill district and into a "better" neighborhood.
In addition to Harmond's family real estate business, he and an old school chum, Roosevelt, also own a development company. Roosevelt, a banker, equates success with money, power and golf.
The play is set in 1997, a time when Tiger Woods was breaking racial barriers on the golf course. Roosevelt hangs a poster of the famous golfer in Harmond's seedy campaign office. The play's title, Radio Golf, is also the name of Roosevelt's weekly radio program.
The playwright is in no hurry to move the piece along. Several local "characters" from the Hill district wander into Harmond's office. Roosevelt dismisses one of them, "Old Joe" Barlow, as a bum. Unfazed, Old Joe finds a willing listener in Harmond, who intervenes when he hears the old man complain about some minor injustice. However, he cannot "fix" Joe's main problem: to save the family home from demolition. Harmond acquired the property from the city with the intent of razing it for his dazzling urban renewal project. Instead of eyesores, the redeveloped area would bring apartments, a Barnes & Noble and even a Starbucks to the district. However, after hearing Old Joe's side of the story, Harmond isn't so sure.
Although the playwright died prior to the "Obama years," Harmond and Obama clearly are cut from the same cloth. While the play contains references to those who would openly scoff at the idea of a black mayor, one cannot help but wonder what Wilson would have thought of a black president.
The play's pace quickens in the second act, moving into high gear with the imminent demolition of Old Joe's house. Hill district neighbors have gathered `round the bulldozers to have a party, and Harmond truly has a mess on his hands. Although he tries to do "the right thing," his efforts are thwarted by a legal system that can cut both ways.
In this production, the casting and direction are perfectly balanced to produce a powerful and often humorous night at the theater. Thankfully, Director Timothy Douglas allows his characters time to breathe. Tyrone Mitchell Henderson is lean, likeable and diplomatic as Harmond. The first conversation between Harmond and his wife is strictly political speak. It's a rapid patter of appointments, phone calls and the minutiae of a political campaign. But they make it clear there's a deep bond between them.
Kelly Taffe is wonderful as the play's only female character. Smart and headstrong, her character demonstrates an ability to work with political realities without crushing her husband's spirit. When a prized job in the governor's office slips out of her grasp, she justifiably vents her frustrations.
The juiciest roles belong to unforgettable characters such Old Joe, played superbly by William Mitchell, and Doug Brown as Sterling Johnson, the one-man union. The realistic set and appropriate lighting, coupled with city sounds, add to the show's authenticity.
