Jacob Ming-Trent testifies to his audience-congregation in How Shakespeare Saved My Life (photo by HanJie Chow)
HOW SHAKESPEARE SAVED MY LIFE
The Shiva Theater at the Public Theater
425 Lafayette St.
Tuesday – Sunday through October 25, $84
publictheater.org
redbulltheater.com
Jacob Ming-Trent refers to his one-man show, How Shakespeare Saved My Life, not as an autobiographical tale but as “testimony,” calling the audience his “congregation.” There are heavenly moments as he transforms from a homeless teenager caught up in danger to a successful Shakespearian actor, a shift that took years following his initial inspiration.
When the Boston-born Jacob was twelve in 1992, living in a lower-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh, he accidentally walked into a class on the Bard taught by the football coach, who insisted Jacob read a passage from Henry V. Jacob explains to us, “An angel descended into the classroom, touches me on the nose, and tells me, ‘You will be one of the greatest classical actors of your generation!’ I’m just messin’ with you; that shit didn’t happen. Congregation, I’ll never forget that day. ’Cause when I woke up that morning, I was a superpredator. After that class, I was a Shakespeare prodigy! I was reborn. Play on!”
A charming and engaging performer, Jacob shares his story as his father goes to jail, young Jacob gets in trouble for reading The Merchant of Venice instead of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (he argues with his teacher that the latter is racist), his mother gets remarried and kicks him out of the house, he loses his virginity after reciting a soliloquy from The Two Gentlemen from Verona to a young lady at a party, and he joins a small gang in a local park. He calls up G-d, seeking advice. He auditions for acting school in New York City and is accepted but is soon told that he can only portray certain characters because “fat Black people cannot play heroes. I’m sorry, Mr. Jacob. But there are no roles in Shakespeare for you. If you must do Shakespeare, sound like me! White. Shakespeare was written by a white man for white people.”
Jacob Ming-Trent pays tribute to his heroes as he relives scenes from his life in one-man show (photo by HanJie Chow)
His own heroes, besides Shakespeare, are Biggie, Tupac, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, three prominent and influential Black artists who tragically died before their time, in their twenties.
Jacob continually tells people he is a Shakespearian actor despite never taking the stage professionally, maintaining his dream no matter what life throws at him. And it throws a lot.
Interestingly, the play stops before Jacob begins his prodigious career, which includes being a regular on such series as White Famous and Watchmen and appearing in such Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park productions as Merry Wives, Twelfth Night, Cymbeline, and The Tempest, in addition to many other shows.
Presented by Red Bull Theater at the Public, How Shakespeare Saved My Life is enthusiastically directed by Tony Taccone on Takeshi Kata’s set, consisting of movable walls and stanchions onto which Alexander V. Nichols projects photos and such images as a large rose and Will himself. Sound designer Jake Rodriguez, who also composed the original music, turns up the volume when Ming-Trent is on the run or dancing, with exuberant lighting by Alan C. Edwards.
Ming-Trent reimagines the Bard as a kind of urban poet, a man with a quill who understands the streets. A warm and inviting host, he seamlessly takes on multiple roles, but at ninety minutes the show is too long, with some vignettes tighter than others. For example, a scene where he watches Othello gets confusing quickly and goes on for several awkward minutes. But through it all, he looks like he is having a great time onstage, and that energy is infectious.
“As a Black man fighting injustice daily, my anger and need for revenge almost killed me. Shakespeare taught me how to forgive, and I’m thankful,” he writes in a program note. “I’m not here to share my story but to tell you parts of my tale in the hope that this might save a life as well!”
It’s a tale not told by an idiot, and it signifies a whole lot more than nothing.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]