Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is the story of African American blues singer Ma Rainey and her band recording a new album in Chicago in the 1920s. The play takes place over the course of a single night and uses tensions between the band and the white producers to illustrate the exploitation of black musicians by the record industry. It also focuses on class divisions within the emerging blues community and old and new musicians.
Miss Julie is a one-act, naturalistic play set in Sweden on Midsummer's Eve. Miss Julie is the daughter of a count. Despite her higher social class, she dances with the servants and flirts with Jean, a valet. Julie and Jean's flirting is actually a battle for power and control. Their battle is made more complicated when they sleep together. The two make a plan to run off together, but are stopped by Kristine, the cook. With Jean's help, Miss Julie decides that her only option is suicide.
The Piano Lesson, a play, is set in Pittsburgh in 1936, and shows a glimpse into the lives of the Charles family, particularly siblings Boy Willie and Berniece. The two have inherited an antique piano onto which their great-great-grandfather, a slave, carved stories of his life. Berniece wants to keep the piano, while Boy Willie wants to sell it so that he can use the money to buy the land where their ancestors toiled. The two's disagreement paints a poignant picture about the importance of a painful legacy.