10 plays, 1 century

1900s, "Gem of the Ocean": A haunting, ghostlike play, conjuring tales of slave ships and the black man arriving in chains in the New World.

1910s, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone": Set in a Pittsburgh boarding house. The children and grandchildren of slavery grapple with a world that won't let them forget the past.

1920s, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom": A volatile trumpet player rebels against racism in a Chicago recording studio.

1930s, "The Piano Lesson": A brother and sister battle over a family heirloom, a link to the slavery in their past.

1940s, "Seven Guitars": The final days of a Pittsburgh blues guitarist, telling the story of how and why he died.

1950s, "Fences": A father-son drama of dreams denied and how that denial affects the relationship between the two men.

1960s, "Two Trains Running": The displaced and the dreamers congregate in a dilapidated Pittsburgh restaurant scheduled for demolition.

1970s, "Jitney": Another father-son tale, set in a gypsy cab station, as the owner of the cab company squares off against his offspring, newly released from prison.

1980s, "King Hedley II": An ex-con attempts to get his life back on track despite the despair and violence surrounding him.

1990s, "Radio Golf": A successful middle-class entrepreneur tries to reconcile the present with the past.