‘August
Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned’ – By August Wilson; Co-conceived and directed by Todd Kreidler; Scenic
Design and Projection Design by David
Gallo; Costume Design by Constanza Romero; Lighting Design by Thom Weaver; Sound
Design by Dan
Moses Schreier. Presented by Huntington Theatre Company at the Boston
University Theatre, 264 Huntington
Ave., Boston
through April 3.
The
Huntington Theatre’s spellbinding production of ‘August Wilson’s How I
Learned What I Learned’ should not to be missed by anyone who sincerely
appreciates the art of storytelling. What makes this one-man show so
fascinating is that it barely makes mention of the playwright’s Pulitzer Prize
(and Tony Award) winning works, but instead focuses on his life growing up in
the racially segregated Fort Hill District of Pittsburgh. It’s like attending
an art exhibition comprised entirely of the early sketches of Picasso, where
even though none of the masterworks are on display, the brilliance still shines
through.
Long
time Wilson collaborator Eugene Lee plays Wilson (who originally
performed the one-man autobiographical play himself) and thoroughly owns the
character, from the just-below-the-surface seething at the humiliations doled
out by his white bosses to the loving impressions of the influential characters
in his life. Lee weaves a tapestry of vignettes from his early boyhood through
his development as a poet, but stops short of his writing career. Each of the
stories, entertaining in their own right, teaches a larger lesson that would
shape Wilson’s
thinking. But there is no soapbox in sight, just a series of heartfelt and
poignant anecdotes that need no embellishment to paint a stark portrait of
black life in a northern American city in the 1960’s.
Lee
does open the show with something of a (very dark) joke, however. “My ancestors
have been in America
since the early 17th century, and for the first 244 years, we never had a
problem finding a job,” he says to nervous laughter, before dropping the hammer
of truth. “But since 1863, it’s been hell. It’s been hell because the ideas and
attitudes that Americans had toward slaves followed them out of slavery and
became entrenched in the nation’s psyche.”
But
that’s pretty much where any sermonizing on racial injustice ends. That
powerful statement serves only as a device to ground the audience in reality,
and when we catch our breath following the bleak reminder, Lee launches into a
series of stories about the people who influenced Wilson during his late teens and early
twenties. Each new scene is announced by the tap-tap-tap of an old manual
typewriter, forming words spelled out on a backdrop composed of hundreds of
individual sheets of typing paper in David Gallo’s imaginative set.
So
we see a quote from his mother, “Something is not always better than nothing”
appear on the pages, which leads to a story about how she taught him (by
example) to maintain his dignity, even if it meant postponing the immediate
gratification he could achieve by settling for less. That lesson shows up later
when he is treated as a second class citizen by his bosses, and he decides to
walk away from jobs despite desperately needing the money. And while he hurts
in the short term, the building blocks of character are being put in place.
That same attitude shows up in the character of Troy Maxson in the Pulitzer and
Tony Award winning “Fences”, as he becomes the first
"colored" trash truck driver by not accepting that second class
treatment.
Not
all the lessons are moral ones, and there are several parables important for
his survival – like how to keep your mouth shut in street society – and these
make for the most entertaining stories of the evening. Wilson’s snatches of
street corner/nightlife in some ways reminded me of the description of black
life in the 40’s in the Boston chapters of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X
(written by Alex Haley), except that the jukeboxes that blared Erskine Hawkins
and Duke Ellington now played Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. There’s a tale
about a man who insults another man’s wife (for which he pays the ultimate
price) that perfectly exemplifies street justice and its own code of honor; and
a story about Wilson’s well-intentioned introduction of his friend, junkie/poet
Chawley Williams, to a famous white actor (and fellow heroin addict) which
erupts in violence that nearly kills Chawley, and later, Wilson. And there are
touching moments as well. After teasing the audience with the title “Oral Sex”,
Lee switches direction and spins the tale of Wilson’s first kiss to schoolmate Catherine
Moran during the Christmas pageant, and it’s very sweet.
At
100 minutes with no intermission, one would think the production would drag at
times, but Lee’s engaging portrayal makes this show as
awe-inspiring as the John Coltrane solo on “Giant Steps”. See it. For more
info, go to: http://www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/2015-2016/how-i-learned-what-i-learned/
