Denzel Washington Bringing 10 Plays to HBO Over The Next Nine Years

Denzel Washington won a Tony Award in 2010 for his performance in Fences, a play from Pulitzer prize-winning playwright August Wilson, and now Washington has announced that not only will he be reprising that role in a filmed version for HBO, but he'll be executive producing adaptations of all of Wilson's other plays over the next few years.

“He did 10 plays. I’ve been given the opportunity by the August Wilson estate. I’m directing and producing and acting in one (Fences) and I’m executive producing the other nine. I made a deal with HBO.

“We’re going to do one a year for the next nine years. I’m really excited about that. That that they put it in my hands, the estate, and trust me. That’s good enough for me. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Fences is about a former baseball player in 1950s Pittsburgh, now working a trash collector and struggling to provide for his family since he wasn't allowed into professional baseball because he was African-American (Jackie Robinson hadn't broken the color barrier yet). The rest of Wilson's plays, referred to as The Century Cycle or The Pittsburgh Cycle, each take place in a different decade of the 1900s and examine the black experience in America.

"His stories are specifically African American stories, but the themes are universal," said Washington. "Families, love, betrayal whatever the theme is. People relate and enjoy listening to or seeing his work. He was just a bright, brilliant shining light who was here and then he was gone, but his work will live forever to be interpreted by actors and directors for as long as we're here."

Sounds like this is a passion project for Washington, and it's cool that HBO is giving him the opportunity to bring all of these stories to a huge audience. It's unclear whether the HBO productions will be just filmed versions of the stage play (similar to how you might see plays simulcast from The Metropolitan Opera in AMC Theaters), or if they will be more traditional adaptations (ie — shot on location, different camera angles, etc.). HBO hasn't officially announced the project yet (Washington revealed it at a Q&A last night), so it sounds like we'll be finding out more information soon.

Via: THR