The Piano Lesson - Plot

Plot

• Act 1, Scene 1

The Boy Willie and Lymon enter into the Charles household at dawn with a truck full of watermelon they intend to sell. Against his better judgement and Uncle Doaker's insistence, Boy Willie calls awake his sister Berniece, whom he has not seen in three years due to his sentence in the Parchment Prison Farm. Altogether, the family members and Lymon celebrate the drowning of Sutter (the family who owned the Charles family during slavery) in the well. Tired of her brother's stupid actions, Berniece dismisses his words and wishes him to leave the house as soon as possible. To annoy her further, Boy Willie calls upon Maretha, Berniece's daughter, in the middle of the night to stir her from her sleep, causing Berniece to run back up the stairs.

Switching topics, Willie then asks of his Uncle Wining Boy, who has become a wanderer in his middle age looking for the past he seems to want to relive. Lymon then brings up the piano. Willie intends to sell the watermelon and the piano to buy the Sutters' land the Charles family had once toiled upon. Doaker insists that Berniece will not agree to selling the piano and Willie insists that he will convince her.

Seeing Sutter's ghost dressed in a blue suit, Berniece screams at the top of the stairs. Her brother Willie tells her that she is imaging things and that Sutter is looking for the piano to be rid of the Charles household. After Doaker rambles on about his railroad stories, Maretha comes downstairs and Willie asks her to play the piano. She plays the beginning of a few simple tunes and he answers her song with a boogie-woogie. Willie then asks Maretha if she knows the origins of the piano and is surprised to discover she does not. Avery and Berniece reenter the room and Willie casually asks his sister if she might still have the protective buyer's name. Finally professing his want to sell the piano for land, Berniece refuses to listen and walks out.

• Act 1, Scene 2

Wining Boy and Doaker are having a conversation about daily events and they muse over the present and the past. Boy Willie and Lymon enter and claim that they have already bargained with the piano purchaser. Both of Willie's uncles warn Willie that the white man Sutter is cheating him and that he should be more careful. Seeing himself as equal to the white man, Boy Willie refuses to listen. The story behind Lymon and Boy Willie's term in Parchment Prison Farm is revealed. Lymon and Willie both gather different perspectives from their experiences. Lymon feels that he should flee to the North where he will be better treated, while Willie feels that whites only treat blacks badly if the blacks do not try and stop them. Wining Boy is then asked to play the piano, but instead he gives a short speech regarding his inexistence due to playing piano his whole life and knowing nothing more.

Doaker then tells Lymon the story of what the piano represents, the enriching values that it bestowed on the Charles family. Willie declares that these are stories of the past and that the piano should now be put to good use. Willie and Lymon attempt to move the piano to test its weight. As soon as they try to move it, Sutter's ghost is heard. Berniece commands Willie to stop and informs him that he is selling his soul for money. Willie refutes her, Berniece blames Crawley's death on Willie, and the two engage in a fight. Upstairs, Maretha is confronted by the ghosts, and she screams.

• Act 2, Scene 1

Doaker and Wining Boy are again together in the house alone. Doaker confesses that he saw Sutter's ghost playing the piano and feels that Berniece should discard the piano so as to prevent spirits from traumatizing the Charles family. Wining Boy disagrees. Lymon and Willie walk into the room after a watermelon sale. Wining Boy sells his suit and shoes to Lymon, promising its swooning affects on woman. Both Lymon and Willie leave the house in hot pursuit of women.

• Act 2, Scene 2

Later that day as Berniece is preparing for her bath, Avery enters and proposes that Berniece should open up and let go. He tells her that she cannot continue to live her life with Crawley's memory shut inside her. Berniece changes the topic and asks Avery to bless the house, hoping to destroy the spirit of the Sutter ghost. Avery then brings up the piano and tells Berniece she should learn to not be afraid of her family's spirits and play it again. Berniece breaks down her story of her mother's tears and blood mingled with her father's soul on the piano and refuses to open her wounds for everyone to see.

• Act 2, Scenes 3–5

Boy Willie enters the Charles house with Grace and begins to fool around on the couch. Berniece orders them out and opens the door to see Lymon. Lymon is upset over his inability to woo women and begins to talk about women's virtues to Berniece. The two kiss, breaking Berniece's discomfort over Crawley's death, and Berniece heads back upstairs.

The next morning, Lymon and Willie try to move the piano out and are stopped by Uncle Doaker. Willie, frustrated, demands that he will sell the piano no matter what. The day to move the piano draws closer. Excited to sell the piano, Willie quickly partakes on his actions without a care of his sister's words. Berniece appears with Crawley's gun, leading Doaker and Avery to urge them to talk it through first. Sutter's presence as a ghost is suddenly revived. Avery attempts to drive the ghost away with his blessings but is not successful. Suddenly, Berniece knows that she must play the piano again as a plea to her ancestors. Finally, the house is led to a calm aura, and Willie leaves.