August Wilson's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED is Coming to TheatreWorks Silicon Valley

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will ring in 2024 with a stunning production of August Wilson's How I Learned What I Learned. An internationally acclaimed interpreter of August Wilson's works, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Tim Bond returns to TheatreWorks to helm this heartfelt one-man theatrical memoir that chronicles the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright's life. Following Wilson's journey from struggling young writer to one of America's most honored and acclaimed theatrical icons, How I Learned What I Learned is a tale of self-discovery, adversity, love, and what it means to be a Black artist in America. Bond reunites with award-winning Bay Area theatre artist Steven Anthony Jones, who will star as the iconic playwright. Jones' tour de force solo performance at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Seattle Repertory Theatre was called “brilliant” (Talkin' Broadway) and “a masterful performance that shouldn't be missed” (Bay City News). How I Learned What I Learned will be presented January 17 – February 3, 2024 (press opening: January 20) at Mountain View Center for the Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View. For tickets (starting at $27) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (877)-662-8978.

“I am honored to celebrate the legacy of self-respect and self-actualization of the monumental Black artist who was one of the greatest American Playwrights of the 20th Century,” said Tim Bond, who was a close friend of the late Wilson. “While an elevating and delightful night of theatre, this piece is also a clarion call, urgent and uncannily resonant in our current climate of division regarding America's racialized history.”

Following its run at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, TheatreWorks will take How I Learned What I Learned on a weeklong tour throughout the Bay Area, sharing this affirming piece with local communities. More information on those partnerships will be announced at a later date.

Making its World Premiere at Seattle Repertory Theatre, How I Learned What I Learned was originally performed by Wilson himself. Its New York Premiere was presented by Signature Theatre, and the show has since been seen in leading theatres. The Boston Globe said, “Wilson's pride, humor, eloquence, anger, storytelling gifts, and general eagerness to soak up experience: It's all there." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette hailed it as “complex and surprisingly funny. A crowd-pleasing 100 minutes in the company of a wonderful writer.”

TheatreWorks is committed to creating an environment that is accessible for all audiences in its community. American Sign Language interpretation will be available at the performance of How I Learned What I Learned at 7:30pm Tuesday, January 30, 2024. In partnership with c2 Caption Coalition, TheatreWorks will offer open captioning (a screen displaying all dialogue and a description of sound effects) for the performances of How I Learned What I Learned at 2pm & 7pm Wednesday, January 31, 2024. TheatreWorks is collaborating with Gravity Access Services in offering audio descriptions to assist patrons who are visually impaired. This service, which includes a pre-show talk, will be available 2pm & 8pm Saturday, February 3, 2024. (To utilize audio description, patrons should pre-register at (877)-662-8978 after purchasing tickets). Assistive listening devices are offered at every performance with no advance registration required. For more information about accessibility programs at TheatreWorks the public may visit TheatreWorks.org/accessibility.

TheatreWorks will require face masks to be worn for the performances of How I Learned What I Learned at 8pm Friday, January 26, 2024 and 2pm Saturday, January 27, 2024. For up-to-date information about COVID-19 health and safety procedures the public may visit TheatreWorks.org/safety.

TheatreWorks will also host post-show discussions with the cast following the Wednesday, January 24 and Wednesday, January 31, 2024 performances of How I Learned What I Learned.

Steven Anthony Jones (he/him) brings theatrical titan August Wilson's story to life with this poignant solo performance. A Bay Area theatre veteran, Jones has more than four decades of stage, television, and film credits. He recently appeared in the National Tour of August Wilson's Jitney. Jones has performed with leading regional theatres including American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage, The Old Globe, Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum, Yale Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Ford's Theatre, and A Contemporary Theatre. He was formerly the Artistic Director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre.  

How I Learned What I Learned features scenic design by Nina Ball, costume design by Constanza Romero, lighting design by Xavier Pierce with Jonah Bobilin as associate lighting designer, and sound and projections design by Rasean Davonté Johnson. Randall K. Lum serves as stage manager with Megan Hall as assistant stage manager.

August Wilson authored Gem of the Ocean (TheatreWorks 2022), Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (TheatreWorks 1989), The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences (TheatreWorks 2000), Two Trains Running (TheatreWorks 1996), Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf (TheatreWorks 2008), all works exploring the heritage and experience of African Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century. His plays have been produced all over the world, as well as on Broadway and have garnered awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990), a Tony Award for Fences, Olivier Award for Jitney, and eight New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, among many others. The cast recording of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theater located at 245 West 52nd Street - The August Wilson Theatre. Mr. Wilson was posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2007.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Tim Bond (Director) returns to TheatreWorks, where he helmed August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean and Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer during his tenure as TheatreWorks' Artistic Director. Other recent credits include the acclaimed productions of How I Learned What I Learned (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), The Children (Seattle Repertory Theatre), and Pass Over (A Contemporary Theatre). He is an internationally known director and educator with past leadership roles including Artistic Director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Producing Artistic Director at Syracuse Stage, Associate Artistic Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Artistic Director at Seattle Group Theatre, and full Professor and Head of the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Washington School of Drama. Bond has directed nationally and internationally at Market Theatre, Baxter Theatre Centre, Guthrie Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Wilma Theater, Arena Stage, GEVA Theatre Center, Cleveland Play House, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Pacific Conservatory Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, Dallas Theater Center, A Contemporary Theatre, Empty Space Theatre, Paul Robeson Theatre, and Seattle Children's Theatre. He is the recipient of two Backstage West Garland Awards, two Syracuse Area Live Theatre (SALT) Awards, and a Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Forum Award.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, led by Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli in partnership with Executive Director Debbie Chinn, presents a wide variety of contemporary plays and musicals, revitalizes great works of the past, and serves more than 100,000 patrons per year. Founded in 1970 by Robert Kelley, TheatreWorks has grown from a truly original Silicon Valley start-up to become one of the nation's leading professional non-profit theatre companies. TheatreWorks was recently honored as the recipient of the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award. TheatreWorks also champions new work, offering artists support and a creative home as they develop new stories for the American theatre. Offstage, TheatreWorks' arts education programs in local schools and arts engagement programs in Silicon Valley neighborhoods uplift its audiences and strengthen community bonds. Onstage and off, TheatreWorks welcomes the mosaic of people that embody the Bay Area and beyond, celebrating the transformative power of theatre to ignite imagination, inspire conversation, and enliven our souls.

How I Learned What I Learned is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. (concordtheatricals.com).

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