Long Wharf Theatre Announces a Citywide August Wilson Celebration

Press release

Long Wharf Theatre Announces a Citywide August Wilson Celebration in Partnership with the City of New Haven

The August Wilson Celebration reflects Long Wharf Theatre’s bold new chapter — deepening a commitment to world-class storytelling, radical access, and community partnerships that honor the richness of New Haven while resonating nationally.

New Haven, Conn. — In recognition of the 80th anniversary of August Wilson’s birth, Long Wharf Theatre, in partnership with the City of New Haven, is proud to announce a season-long August Wilson Celebration during its 2025–2026 season. The celebration will honor Wilson’s enduring artistry and legacy with a wide range of events across the city, including Long Wharf Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (February 27 - March 15, 2026).

The August Wilson Celebration will include free community events, workshops, panels, and special programs designed to bring Wilson’s work to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. In collaboration with local cultural and educational partners, the celebration will highlight Wilson’s lasting influence on American theatre and his profound connections to New Haven.

As part of this initiative, Long Wharf Theatre is partnering with the City of New Haven, Creative Arts Workshop, Elements of Abundance, Kulturally LIT, The Narrative Project, Yale Schwarzman Center, the New Haven Museum, the Beinecke Library, and others to present a season-long series of events celebrating August Wilson’s impact. All five branches of the New Haven Free Public Library—Ives Main, Fair Haven, Mitchell, Stetson, and Wilson—will take part in the Celebration through a range of activations. Additional events will include panel discussions, community conversations, and neighborhood-based gatherings, with more partners and details to be announced throughout the season.

“The City of New Haven is honored to partner with Long Wharf Theatre in celebrating the legacy of August Wilson,” said Kim Futrell, Deputy Director of Arts, Culture, & Tourism at the City of New Haven. “This citywide initiative reflects the cultural richness and creative spirit that defines New Haven. By bringing powerful theatremaking into our neighborhoods, Long Wharf Theatre sets a bold standard of what community-rooted art with national impact can look like—and we’re proud to stand alongside them in this work.”

August Wilson’s history in New Haven runs deep. Yale Repertory Theatre was his longtime artistic home, where, alongside collaborators Lloyd Richards and Ben Mordecai, six plays in his monumental American Century Cycle premiered, beginning with Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in 1984. Following Wilson’s passing, Long Wharf Theatre produced Fences in 2013, directed by Phylicia Rashad. Now, for the first time, Long Wharf Theatre will bring August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean—the opening chapter of the American Century Cycle—to Greater New Haven audiences. Directed by Connecticut local and frequent Long Wharf Theatre collaborator Cheyenne Barboza, this production invites both devoted followers and first-time audiences to engage with the depth and power of Wilson’s work. Barboza previously directed the world premiere of Unbecoming Tragedy: A Ritual Journey Toward Destiny, Long Wharf Theatre’s spring 2024 production written and performed by New Haven local artist Terrence Riggins. Riggins’ play, shaped by August Wilson’s influence, explores many of the same themes central to Wilson’s work, reinforcing Long Wharf Theatre’s ongoing commitment to engaging with Wilson’s artistry both on stage and in the community.

“This celebration is an invitation to all of New Haven,” said Jacob G. Padrón, Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre. “Wilson’s plays speak to the richness of Black life in America and resonate across cultures. By bringing his work into neighborhoods, libraries, and community spaces, we hope to honor his legacy while sparking new conversations about belonging, justice, and the stories that shape us.”

The August Wilson Celebration will officially launch with a Kick-Off Party on October 25, 2025, at 2 pm at the New Haven Museum, featuring community partners, special performances, and remarks from the artistic team.

For more information and the latest updates on the August Wilson Celebration, visit longwharf.org.

AUGUST WILSON’S GEM OF THE OCEAN
By August Wilson
Feb 27 - Mar 15, 2026 | Canal Dock Boathouse

Building on the resounding success of A View from the Bridge, which transformed the Canal Dock Boathouse into one of New Haven’s most talked-about cultural destinations two seasons ago, Long Wharf Theatre returns to the waterfront with August Wilson’s classic play, Gem of the Ocean.

“Following the award-winning run of A View from the Bridge at the Boathouse in 2024, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean brings us back to this powerful space with a work that is equally expansive and intimate,” said Artistic Director Jacob G. Padrón.

Set in 1904, the play follows Aunt Ester, a 285-year-old spiritual healer believed to carry the memory of the African diaspora, as she leads a young man named Citizen Barlow on a journey toward healing and redemption. Through the poetics of Wilson’s language, the story calls forth the weight of resistance and the possibility of transcendence.

This production marks a natural evolution from Long Wharf Theatre’s most recent world premiere, Unbecoming Tragedy: A Ritual Journey Toward Destiny – a piece directly inspired by Wilson’s works and nominated for two Connecticut Critics Circle awards. Written and performed by New Haven’s own Terrence Riggins, Unbecoming Tragedy explores lineage, hope, and Black identity with a lyricism that echoes Wilson’s own. Together, these works form a spiritual dialogue—across time, across generations, and across the city of New Haven.

Bringing August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean to the Canal Dock Boathouse is not just a return to a venue—it’s a return to a way of making theatre that is deeply rooted in place and purpose. Wilson himself has roots in developing work across New Haven, making this production an homage to a legacy that began in this very community. As audiences once again gather at the water’s edge, Long Wharf Theatre invites the city into a space of communion, where memory lives not only in the exploration of storytelling but in the resonance of coming together.