STAGE

August Wilson’s play, “The Piano Lesson,” is the recipient of the American Theatre Critics Assn.’s annual new play award, according to an announcement made Sunday at the association’s annual meeting in Atlanta. The $1,000 award is given for the best new play by an American playwright professionally produced outside of New York between April 1, 1988, and March 31, 1989. Runners-up for the award were Richard Dresser’s “The Downside,” produced by New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre and the Cricket Theatre in Minneapolis, and Dennis Clontz’s “Generations,” presented by the Colony at the Studio Theatre Playhouse in Los Angeles. “The Piano Lesson,” which originated at the Yale Repertory, played Chicago’s Goodman Theater and will come to Los Angeles Jan. 18 to April 1 as part of the Ahmanson’s 1989-90 season at the Doolittle Theater. The play is another of Pulitzer Prize winner Wilson’s serial chronicles of 20th-Century black life in the United States. “The Downside” has just been announced as part of the next Pasadena Playhouse season, playing Dec. 10-Jan. 14. The ATCA is a 20-year-old nationwide organization of theater critics in all media.