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Pop Culture
Dec 05, 2008, 05:06AM

A Matter of Direction

The idea that a white director will helm the work of America's foremost black playwright has raised some eyebrows.

A sticky issue:

Wilson cut his artistic teeth at St. Paul's Penumbra Theatre Company with a group of artists who remain fiercely devoted to his work and legacy. Some of those artists expressed dismay at the Lincoln Center decision.

McClinton, the Penumbra alumnus who directed a pair of Wilson's Broadway productions — the 2003 revival of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and the 2001 premiere of "King Hedley II" — said "Joe Turner" is Wilson's most Afro-centric play. He called Lincoln Center's decision one of "straight-up institutional racism."

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