PITTSBURGH – Prime Stage brings to Pittsburgh the stage adaptation of Ernest Gaines’ novel A Lesson Before Dying. Prime Stage is the region’s only presenter of literature-based productions. The production runs from March 4 through March 13 at the New Hazlett Theater located at 6 Allegheny Square East, and is appropriate for audiences from middle school through adult.
The production is directed by Rich Keitel and features noted African American actors including LaMar Darnell Fields, the Recipient of the Best actor award for the 2012 Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Festival in Black and White; Wali Jamal, well known for his roles at Pittsburgh Playwrights and the Pittsburgh Public Theater; Lamont Walker II, a student at Point Park who has performed with The REP and Pittsburgh Playwrights; and Tracey Turner who has performed with Kuntu Repertory Theatre, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, and New Horizon Theater. She was the Artistic Director of I Dream A World, Inc., a non-profit educational touring company and was Artist in Residence and Assistant Coordinator of the Friendship Academy after school program.
The play focuses on Jefferson, a black teenager wrongfully accused of murder, and is adapted by Romulus Linney from the novel by author Ernest J. Gaines, a National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction recipient. A Lesson Before Dying is an Oprah’s Book Club selection, and can be found on several schools’ reading lists.
Tickets are available at www.primestage.com
