The focal point is the home of the formidable Aunt Ester, a Black matron whose Pittsburgh residence serves as a sanctuary from the turmoil and anonymity of the big city. Over the course of its three-plus hours, the play-well-paced by director Chuck Smith, who served as dramaturg when Goodman staged the world premiere of “Gem” in 2003-convincingly recreates the milieu of Southern-born Blacks attempting to make decent lives for themselves in the cities of the industrial North. As with the epic tales of the ancient world, the characters’ stories, heroic and not-so-heroic, blend together into one complex, interrelated narrative that gives insight into the past and offers moral and practical guidance for the present. Set in early-twentieth-century Pittsburgh, during what historians term the nadir of race relations in this country, “Gem” is about the quest for freedom and dignity by African Americans who have been released from bondage into poverty and second-class citizenship. And this topnotch production draws every drop of meaning from Wilson’s deep, rich and powerful script.

But August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean”- Part I of the late playwright’s ten-part “Century Cycle” opus-fully merits the adjective. The word “epic” has been worn thin by overuse and misuse.

Goodman theatre gem of the ocean