That’s the underlying conceit of August Wilson’s play The Piano Lesson, in which a piano passed down through generations of one Black family wields the power to unite that family, though it also threatens to drive them apart.

John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, Erykah Badu and Corey Hawkins attend the premiere of Netflix's "The Piano Lesson" in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Denzel Washington, father of John David Washington,

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Deadwyler, The Piano Lesson finds ways to expand this play beyond the stage.