Fences and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom playwright August Wilson will be honored with a Forever stamp from the United States Postal Service, the 44th entry in their Black Heritage series. Theatre fans will be able to get the Wilson stamps from their local post office beginning January 28, 2021, or online at USPS.com/ShopStamps.
The stamp will be dedicated in a virtual First Day of Issue Ceremony on the Postal Service's Facebook and Twitter pages. The live broadcast will be held January 28 at 11:30 AM ET.
The news comes as Netflix prepares to release several Wilson-related projects, including Giving Voice, a documentary showcasing the August Wilson Monologue Competition; and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a new film adaptation of Wilson's 1984 play starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts.
Wilson made his Broadway debut with Ma Rainey's Black Bottom in 1984. All 10 of his Century Cycle plays—which each explore the Black experience in a different decade of the 20th century—have subsequently played the main stem, including Fences, The Piano Lesson, King Hedley II, and Jitney. He won the Tony and Pulitzer Awards for Fences in 1987, and a Pulitzer for The Piano Lesson in 1990.
His legacy also includes a Broadway theatre bearing his name. Currently home to Mean Girls, the former Virginia Theatre was re-named the August Wilson in 2005, two weeks after the playwright's death.
