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The play explores race relations between blacks and whites in s America and the African-American search for identity. The title comes from the song of the same name, which is at the heart of a major conflict in the play. Wilson pits Levee against Rainey, the band members, and the whites, examining various stripes of inter- and intra-racial conflict.

A voracious reader who credits his mother for his love of language, Wilson dropped out of school in the ninth grade, educating himself at libraries.

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In , Wilson enlisted in the U. Army but was discharged a year later. In , he decided to become a writer, buying his first typewriter for twenty dollars. Following the oft-given advice to write what you know, Wilson created characters that spoke like people he knew in black neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. The success of this play helped catapult Wilson into the national limelight.

Wilson continues to write and to speak out, from his home in Seattle, Washington, for the creation of and the funding for black theaters. Cutler and the band appear shortly, and Levee shows up carrying his new shoes, which he paid for in part with money he won from Cutler the night before playing craps, a dice game. The bulk of act 1 is comprised of bantering between and among band players, with Levee arguing with almost everyone.