TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents "Gem of the Ocean"

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will present Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner August Wilson's sweeping drama "Gem of the Ocean". This seminal classic will be directed by Artistic Director Tim Bond, a close friend of the late playwright and a leading interpreter of his work, making his TheatreWorks directorial debut with this play. Part of Wilson's acclaimed American Century Cycle of ten plays that explore the African American experience during the 20th Century, "Gem of the Ocean" is set in 1904 against the tempestuous backdrop of police violence and rioting. A young Black man desperate for redemption visits 285-year-old Aunt Ester, the community's spiritual advisor and keeper of collective memory. The wise elder takes him on a supernatural voyage of justice and freedom aboard a slave ship to learn the truth of his ancestors' history. "Gem of the Ocean" was nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Play. The New York Times deemed "Gem of the Ocean" "a swelling overture of things to come, a battle hymn for an inchoate republic of African Americans just beginning to discover the price of freedom." Variety lauded the play as a "slow-burning, powerfully spiritual drama." Regarding a recent production, Chicago Tribune claimed "It is impossible to watch 'Gem,' with its emphasis on the relationship of African Americans to police officers, without thinking about the numerous clashes that have raised questions of equality, morality, law-and-order and which lives matter the most."