Playwright Wilson has liver cancer

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson -- whose “Radio Golf” is currently at the Mark Taper Forum -- has revealed he has inoperable liver cancer.

Wilson’s personal assistant, Dena Levitin, confirmed Friday that Wilson’s prognosis is “serious” but refused comment on news reports quoting the playwright as saying he has a life expectancy of three to five months.

“Mr. Wilson is dealing with the matter head-on. Those close to Mr. Wilson remain optimistic regarding the situation,” the 60-year-old writer’s representatives said in a statement.

Levitin said that Wilson’s condition was diagnosed in June and that doctors at University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle -- where Wilson lives with his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero, and their daughter, Azula Carmen -- had recommended that Wilson undergo chemoembolization, a process by which cancer-fighting drugs are injected directly into a tumor, and then receive a liver transplant. But “unfortunately the cancer was too advanced to have that done,” Levitin said.

“Radio Golf” is the final play in a 10-work cycle about the African American experience in 20th century America. It is also the final work to have been overseen by Gordon Davidson as artistic director of Center Theatre Group, who worked with Wilson on eight of the 10. Pulitzers went to “Fences” in 1987 and “The Piano Lesson” in 1990.

Davidson, who resigned his post July 1, said Friday that he knew Wilson had been suffering health problems since the premiere of “Radio Golf” at the Yale Repertory Theatre in May. Davidson said Wilson decided not to undergo standard chemotherapy because “he wanted to be clearheaded about the play.”

Davidson added that Wilson stayed in Seattle during rehearsals for “Radio Golf” to conserve his energy but kept working on script changes. “On the one hand, it was strangely calm and focused and collected,” he said. “On the other hand, we had this specter hanging over us, because he didn’t want anyone to know.”

Kenny Leon, director of “Radio Golf,” made several trips to Seattle to consult with the playwright during rehearsals in Los Angeles. “I talked with him last night, and I know he’s in a good place,” Leon said Friday. “I’ve always felt that he was America’s greatest writer, but after going through the rehearsal process, I have much more respect than I ever had before.”

Anthony Chisholm, who has had roles in six Wilson plays, including “Radio Golf,” said Friday, “We’re praying for this man, and God has his own plan.

“Each of his plays is unique unto itself,” Chisholm said. “As an actor, it is my first priority to serve the playwright, tell the story -- and he is a great storyteller. I clearly feel he is a Shakespeare of our time. I hope he continues to write and write and write and write.”