While finding much to recommend in The Piano Lesson, Kramer also found the playwright's conclusion to be somewhat obscure.

The interior of the newly restored and rechristened Walter Kerr Theatre (it was formerly the Ritz), where August Wilson's ' 'The Piano Lesson" opened last week, is truly exquisite. I have an idea that parts of Wilson's play must be exquisite, too. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to see past the head of the extremely tall man sitting in front of me. Offhand, I can think of no playwright whose work is harder to appreciate in such a situation. Wilson is unusual among contemporary playwrights in that he writes for the proscenium stage. His plays tend to present two juxtaposed areas—the adjoining rooms of a recording studio, or the world within someone's back yard and the world outside it, or a boarding house where people stay briefly...