One of Pittsburgh’s Finest Actors will portray one of Pittsburgh’s Greatest Playwrights when Prime Stage Theatre Presents Wali Jamal performing August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned

First performed by Wilson himself, two years before his death at age 60, How I Learned What I Learned is a riveting and poignant memoir of his early days as a developing writer in Pittsburgh. A precocious youth

with an outsider’s keen social perspective, Wilson dropped out of high school to become a full-time student of the human condition. He worked odd jobs while reading books from the library, taking notes on colorfulcharacters he met and integrating their experiences into the epic sweep of African American history.

In 2018, Wali Jamal was named Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Performer of the Year and is the only actor in the world to have appeared in all eleven of Wilson’s plays — the 10-play Pittsburgh cycle and the autobiographical solo show How I Learned What I Learned.

“How I Learned What I Learned is a rare introspective glimpse into the creative process of one of America’s greatest playwrights,” says Prime Stage Theatre artistic director Dr. Wayne Brinda. “Wali Jamal first performed for Prime Stage in 2000 as Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird, and we are thrilled to be hosting him again as August Wilson looking back on an extraordinary career in American theatre.”

TICKETS AND DETAILS

The acclaimed one-person show takes place Monday, January 20, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. at New Hazlett Theater. Admission is pay-what-you-can; tickets are available by calling (412) 320-4610 ext. 10 or reserving online at https://tinyurl.com/5n8byv3b

This one-night-only performance of How I Learned What I Learned is presented during Prime Stage Theatre’s January 17-26, 2025 mainstage production of Natalia Temesgen’s Look Forward: The Ruby Bridges Story, directed by Linda Haston and featuring Saniya Lavelle as civil rights trailblazer Ruby Bridges, the first African American student to attend an all-white grade school in New Orleans.

Categories: Arts and Ideas, Show Previews

Tags: August Wilson, Dr. Wayne Brinda, How I Learned What I Learned, New Hazledtt Theater, Prime Stage Theatre, Wali Jamal