Seattle Honors Playwright August Wilson With Renamed Street

A portion of Republican Street in Seattle, Washington, has been proclaimed August Wilson Way in honor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. The dedication of the newly titled road, hosted by the Seattle Center Fund, unveiled a new 12-foot-high entry for what will become a pedestrian promenade on the campus of Seattle Center, near the city’s famed Space Needle and cultural centers like the Experience Music Project.

Wilson April 27, 1945-October 2, 2005 was considered one of the foremost American playwrights of a generation, best known for his "Pittsburgh Cycle," a series of 10 plays chronicling the African-American experience in each decade of the 20th century. Over the course of his long career, Wilson garnered two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama for Fences and The Piano Lesson, a Tony Award for Best Play for Fences and nearly a dozen additional Tony Award nominations. Wilson’s final work Radio Golf, opened at the Cort Theatre on May 8, 2007, garnering four Tony Award nominations.

August Wilson Way follows the renaming of Broadway’s Virginia Theatre for the scribe in 2005 to the August Wilson Theatre, where hit musical Jersey Boys is currently running. The theater is the first in Broadway history to be named for an African-American artist.