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Tuesday, September 04, 2018
Pittsburgh actor makes history by performing all of August Wilson's works
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: There are Wilsonian Warriors with Tonys and Emmys and international reputations, and then there’s the Pittsburgh brigade, sharing the passion for August Wilson’s work with the people in the playwright’s hometown.
4 comments:
Mirah K
said...
This article describes the efforts of Wali Jamal to perform all of August Wilson’s plays. What I was struck by is that Jamal had no training in acting but he still wants to spread the work of August Wilson. August Wilson’s plays describe the very human experience of being African American in Pittsburgh and I think Jamal’s efforts really represent the ability of theater to reach everyone and inspire anyone, even if they’re not specifically “theater people,” whatever that means, to spread whatever truth the playwright is trying to convey. Jamal is not just going to or promoting August Wilson plays; he is trying to act in as many of them as he possibly can. As the article says, August Wilson’s plays convey the “human condition,” which is universal, as the name implies, and represent, in my opinion, the peak of playwriting. If someone’s plays can touch anyone and can be understood by anyone, I think the playwright has done their job. It can sometimes be hard to remember why theater is so important, especially when studying it 24/7 but the work of Wali Jamal reminds me why I do what I do and why I am devoted to spreading theater as much as I can.
The american playwright, August Wilson, has created some of the most influential and notable plays. When searching for articles, this one caught my eye because someone managed to perform every piece that August Wilson has published. With this accomplishment he, Wali Jamal, was then awarded for his acting efforts. I also learned that both Jamal and Wilson were Pittsburgh based, which was very interesting to read. Setting a goal such as performing all of August Wilson’s works is a specific one, but I think that is why Jamal was able to accomplish it. Many times, we misinterpret the definition of a “goal”, without reminding ourselves that goals are personal- which Jamal did and succeeded in. As a read more on Wali Jamal, it was stated that as of now, he is the only actor to have ever done every work of August Wilson. The particularly interesting part about this is that Jamal has zero formal acting training. He had just been studying movies his whole life because he found it interesting and picked his performance skills from there. This article was really fun to read because the subject is random but interesting to learn more about, and got to know a little bit about “the actor who performed everything by August Wilson”.
August Wilson has written some very influential plays in his lifetime and people today still love and do his work. Somehow, Wali Jamal was able to perform in all of August Wilson's plays. Wilson lived in Pittsburgh and it is only fitting that Jamal is also a Pittsburgh actor, living in the Downtown area. I think that it is incredibly interesting that Jamal has never had any formal training, but is the only person we know of who has acted in every one of Wilson's plays. All Jamal did was watch movies, and learn the secrets of the trade by watching the actors on his screens. I think that this is a really cool accomplishment for Jamal, and I'm kind of jealous because I would love to work on (not act) some of Wilson's works because I think they are beautiful. I'm excited to see what Jamal does next because if he can do this with no training, he now has experience, so he can do more.
4 comments:
This article describes the efforts of Wali Jamal to perform all of August Wilson’s plays. What I was struck by is that Jamal had no training in acting but he still wants to spread the work of August Wilson. August Wilson’s plays describe the very human experience of being African American in Pittsburgh and I think Jamal’s efforts really represent the ability of theater to reach everyone and inspire anyone, even if they’re not specifically “theater people,” whatever that means, to spread whatever truth the playwright is trying to convey. Jamal is not just going to or promoting August Wilson plays; he is trying to act in as many of them as he possibly can. As the article says, August Wilson’s plays convey the “human condition,” which is universal, as the name implies, and represent, in my opinion, the peak of playwriting. If someone’s plays can touch anyone and can be understood by anyone, I think the playwright has done their job. It can sometimes be hard to remember why theater is so important, especially when studying it 24/7 but the work of Wali Jamal reminds me why I do what I do and why I am devoted to spreading theater as much as I can.
The american playwright, August Wilson, has created some of the most influential and notable plays. When searching for articles, this one caught my eye because someone managed to perform every piece that August Wilson has published. With this accomplishment he, Wali Jamal, was then awarded for his acting efforts. I also learned that both Jamal and Wilson were Pittsburgh based, which was very interesting to read. Setting a goal such as performing all of August Wilson’s works is a specific one, but I think that is why Jamal was able to accomplish it. Many times, we misinterpret the definition of a “goal”, without reminding ourselves that goals are personal- which Jamal did and succeeded in. As a read more on Wali Jamal, it was stated that as of now, he is the only actor to have ever done every work of August Wilson. The particularly interesting part about this is that Jamal has zero formal acting training. He had just been studying movies his whole life because he found it interesting and picked his performance skills from there. This article was really fun to read because the subject is random but interesting to learn more about, and got to know a little bit about “the actor who performed everything by August Wilson”.
August Wilson has written some very influential plays in his lifetime and people today still love and do his work. Somehow, Wali Jamal was able to perform in all of August Wilson's plays. Wilson lived in Pittsburgh and it is only fitting that Jamal is also a Pittsburgh actor, living in the Downtown area. I think that it is incredibly interesting that Jamal has never had any formal training, but is the only person we know of who has acted in every one of Wilson's plays. All Jamal did was watch movies, and learn the secrets of the trade by watching the actors on his screens. I think that this is a really cool accomplishment for Jamal, and I'm kind of jealous because I would love to work on (not act) some of Wilson's works because I think they are beautiful. I'm excited to see what Jamal does next because if he can do this with no training, he now has experience, so he can do more.
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