PITTSBURGH PLAYWRIGHT’S PERFORMANCE OF “JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE” IN 2023 | PHOTO COURTESY OF PITTSBURGH PLAYWRIGHTS

Acclaimed stage and screen actor Montae Russell is no stranger to the works of August Wilson.

Russell has performed in all 10 of the Pittsburgh native’s Century Cycle, including the part of Mister in “King Hedley II” in 2001 on Broadway. He also originated the role of Youngblood in the original production of “Jitney” at the Allegheny Repertory Theatre in 1982, and Wilson himself wrote a letter of recommendation for Russell’s graduate school application.

MONTAE RUSSELL | PHOTO COURTESY OF MONTAE RUSSELL

Russell is well-equipped to direct “Radio Golf” this month with Pittsburgh Playwrights as the company’s fifth performance at Wilson’s boyhood home at 1727 Bedford Ave. in the Hill District. It’ll also be a homecoming for the Homestead native.

“I grew up doing theater in Pittsburgh as a teenager and it’s kind of personal to me,” says the actor, who is well-known for his 15 seasons on “ER.” “I’m just going to give it everything I got. I hope they enjoy it. I love the play.”

Russell previously worked with Pittsburgh Playwrights and its founder Mark Clayton Southers as the director of “East Texas Hot Links” and says he didn’t hesitate to come on board with this project.

“Mark Southers is a visionary. Look it up in the dictionary, you’ll see his face,” Russell says.

“Radio Golf” is the last of Wilson’s groundbreaking “Century Cycle” — each of 10 plays is set in a different decade of the 20th Century — and it was written just before his death in 2005. Set in 1997, it’s a culmination both of Wilson’s work and his characters’ stories.

The play depicts Harmond Wilks, a real estate developer in the Hill District about to announce his candidacy to become Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor. When the play opens, he’s adamant a statement about police brutality should be a part of his speech set to run in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. His wife, Mame, disagrees, telling him he needs the support of the police commissioner.

Wilks’ business partner Roosevelt Hicks is moving up in the world, playing golf with big-time players and buying a share of a local radio station. When Elder Joseph Barlow arrives in the redevelopment office, a series of events involving ownership of 1839 Wylie Ave. — a house inherent to Wilson’s canon — and family relations unwinds.

With the play running from August into September, politics will be in the air, says Russell.

“We’re going to be dealing with what is called the most important election of our lifetime,” he says. “The play … doesn’t take place per se, in an election, but it’s election season, and so that’s going to feed into what’s really happening in to reality.”

Another issue tackled in “Radio Golf” still relevant today is the state of the Hill District.

“This play is going to look at the planners of any improvements or renovations in Pittsburgh, and juxtaposing that with, ‘Okay, what has actually happened?’ So, I think every person who’s watching it is going to have a different experience as far as that is concerned,” Russell says.

Russell says he appreciates the role of “Radio Golf” in Wilson’s canon.

“It gives it sort of a miniseries kind of feeling,” he says. “I only say that because I’m a guy who’s journeyed all 10 of them. And so it kind of ties it up … It all makes sense.

“Some of the audience members, this may be their first time they saw an August Wilson play, so they’re not going to connect all that what I’m talking about. But August Wilson knew what he was talking about. And this is what he left us with.”

“Radio Golf” runs Aug. 10-Sept. 14. Shows will begin at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 7 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays outdoors at August Wilson House. On Saturdays, shows will begin at 2 p.m. indoors at the Madison Arts Center.