Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

August Wilson, the legendary American playwright who crafted 10 magnificent plays about the African-American experience during each decade of the 20th century, takes on the 1920s at an ego-fueled, ultimately tragic music-recording session in Chicago, where upstarts and old lions, artists and technicians battle it out. Phylicia Rashad, widely admired for her helming of Wilson works, directs this production, which stars Greg Bryan, Keith David, Jason Dirden, Damon Gupton, Matthew Henerson, Nija Okoro, Lamar Richardson, Ed Swidey, Glynn Turman, and Lillias White.