At heart, August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” is a ghost story. Set in 1930s Pittsburgh (other than a brief prologue in 1911 Mississippi), it’s the story of the Charles family, literally haunted by memories represented by an ornate upright piano. The instrument was originally owned by the Southern family who enslaved the Charleses’ ancestors; now it sits in the modest home of Doaker Charles (Samuel L. Jackson) and his niece Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), a quiet reminder of the past. When Berniece’s visiting brother Boy Willie (John David Washington, sounding uncannily like his father Denzel) announces his plans to sell the piano to shore up the family finances, a standoff begins, with Berniece determined to keep the instrument as a tangible piece of their family’s story.

Wilson wrote “The Piano Lesson” as part of a remarkable 10-play cycle documenting the Black experience through an American century. It’s the third of the plays to come to the screen, following “Fences” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and like all of them it celebrates the music of conversation, the lilting give-and-take of a roomful of great storytellers. The actors, several of whom played their roles in the play’s 2022 Broadway revival, speak as if weaving a tapestry (at one point they beautifully break into song), and director Malcolm Washington lets us immerse ourselves in their voices. Yes, it’s quite talky — the frequent pitfall of bringing a play to the screen — but this music is worth hearing. (Not so much Alexandre Desplat’s eclectic score, which often feels intrusive.)

“The Piano Lesson” is made with great care: Michael Gioulakis’ cinematography lets the piano and its elaborate carvings softly glow in the evening light; in an earlier scene, fireworks glitter sharply like diamonds. The supernatural scenes (the house is haunted by the ghost of enslaver Sutter, whose face torments Berniece in the dark) are eerie, particularly near the end where there’s a literal wrestling with demons. The performances feel wonderfully lived-in, particularly Jackson’s weary, noble Doaker and Deadwyler’s brave, watchful Berniece, a widowed mother determined to make a good life for her daughter and leave the past in the past. Ultimately, music — in the form of a little girl resolutely plucking out a boogie-woogie tune, handed down to her by her uncle — represents hope for all of them, and for us.

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'THE PIANO LESSON'

3.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for strong language, violent content, some suggestive references and smoking)

Running time: 2:05

How to watch: Now in theaters and streaming on Netflix Nov. 22

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