Capturing a Century

Use these questions to reflect, discuss, or journal about your experience and reactions to August Wilson’s American Century Cycle as a whole. Explore any of the questions that interest you or that suit your knowledge of these ten plays. 

If engaging in this activity independently, consider taking notes or writing your reflections down. If engaging in this activity with a class or group, decide if you would like to answer every question in order, skip around, or select certain questions to spend time on. 

Discussion Questions: “Tapping Into the Blood’s Memory”

1. August Wilson described in an interview once that writing was “tapping into the blood’s memory.” Given the content of his plays, how do you interpret this description? 
2. What characters especially stand out to you out of all ten of the Century Cycle plays? What makes them particularly striking or memorable? 
3. Wilson dropped out of school. He taught himself by reading hundreds of books at the library. He became a poet. He wrote in coffee shops. How did his pathway to becoming a literary legend diverge from those that might be considered more “traditional”? What did this mean for his writing? 
4. Several of Wilson’s plays reference one another or even include the same characters or their relatives. For those familiar with the cycle as a whole, what effect does this have? 
5. The plays in the Century Cycle tend to heavily feature male characters, with typically between 1-3 women on stage (with the exception of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, which features five women characters). What role do women play in these plays? How would you characterize August Wilson’s treatment of the woman characters in his plays? 
6. Ron OJ Parson joins a shortlist of legendary directors to direct all ten of the plays at a single theatre. What might that legacy mean for Ron, Court Theatre, Chicago theatre, and Chicago theatre audiences? 
7. If someone had never heard of the Century Cycle, what would you tell them it was “about”? What themes rise to the surface when you consider the arc as a whole? 
8. Consider the first play and final play: Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf. How do these two plays serve as bookends to the series? 

---

• This activity aligns with the following standards:
  • Illinois Arts Learning Standards 
    • Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
    • Anchor Standard 8: Construct meaningful interpretations of artistic work.
    • Anchor Standard 11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.
  • Common Core State Standards  
    • CCSS.ELA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
    • CCSS.ELA.RL.3  Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Posted on November 3, 2026 in Learning Guides, Productions