Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Scene from August Wilson's Play | American Masters on PBS

"White folks don’t understand about the blues," says Ma Rainey in the play, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," set in a Chicago recording studio in 1927. This dramatic reading created for August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand is performed by Ebony Jo-Ann. The play premiered in 1984 at Yale Repertory Theatre and opened on Broadway the same year to win a New York Drama Critics Circle award.
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand premieres Fri., Feb. 20 at 9 pm on PBS (check local listings). Learn more at pbs.org/americanmasters.

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