Shakespearean actor and so much more, Jacob Ming-Trent, currently starring in his one-man show at The Public Theatre, “How Shakespeare Saved My Life” playing through Oct. 25, is completely vulnerable as he engages with the audience. This play is a Black man’s story told with candor and heart. He recently took the time to bare his soul to the AmNews about this incredible show and a Q&A follows.
AmNews: What was your process like to develop this true-life story?
JMT: My process developing this theatrical testimony was an almost three-year process, several workshops, meetings with many scholars, and countless evenings sitting in the dark at my laptop. I enjoyed every minute of it. It helped heal a lot of old wounds, especially with my mother and father.
AmNews: What types of emotions did you relive in creating this piece?
JMT: Strangely enough or maybe not strangely, I feel for my father and mother. Having to play them I feel their pain. That’s good because my empathy for them has grown. It reminds me to look deeper into people’s stories. There are reasons they are who they are today, bad and good.
AmNews: You have been through homelessness as a very young person, at what ages were you homeless? Where did you stay?
JMT: I was homeless twice before the age of 16. Me and my father were homeless in Denver Colorado and the Bay Area. We stayed in bus stations. We made it to a homeless shelter then were kicked out and found another homeless shelter.
It was dangerous and exhausting. My father was mentally ill so he wasn’t capable of much. That lasted about three months. I wish I could write about that, but no one would believe the stories. The second time I was homeless in Pittsburgh. I stayed on several couches with many people’s families. I rented my own apartment at age 15, my apartment was robbed.
That lasted about six months. That second time being homeless in Pittsburgh, I was alone. I learned the streets were nowhere for a child to be.
AmNews: How were you able to survive with the daily challenges that come with being homeless?
JMT: Small daily miracles. My life was saved daily, sometimes people would bring me a bag of groceries, a friend would give me $20, somebody would buy me a cup of tea, give me a ride, the bus driver would let me ride for free! Those small kindnesses can save a life.
AmNews: What about Shakespeare’s writing do you connect with?
JMT: It gave me value because most people consider Shakespeare the greatest writer of the western cannon. If a young Black boy can speak his language with clarity and nuance people will open doors. I used Shakespeare to get out of trouble, I used Shakespeare to meet girls. I used Shakespeare as a sword and shield to get through this world. Shakespeare’s powers were transferred to me and I used them to survive. I used them to build a life, a career.
AmNews: How was it to grow up being put out of your mother’s house and constantly having her reject you and tell you that you were not special?
JMT: My mother was ill equipped to support me in the ways needed. She was a single mother a long way from home.
When you’re 16 and you don’t have the support of your parents and you’re watching your friends be murdered, you feel unsafe. That’s why running away to New York felt like a lifesaving move. It was my only card and I played it.
I ran to the theater and the theater saved me.
AmNews: How do you explain the place you are today as a successful actor, whether you are doing Shakespeare or not considering the journey you had to travel?
JMT: I’m a storyteller, a successful one. But before I could be that I needed to find my community, my family, my tribe. I had to forgive and let go of all the hate and rage. I had to learn how to love myself. I had to do all that before I could tell a great story. Being a good storyteller means you have the power to alter communities. Before you can do that you have to alter yourself and embrace yourself.
AmNews: What do you want others to get from your story?
JMT: There’s light at the end of that dark tunnel, that ART saves lives. It saved mine. That suicide and revenge are not the answer. Forgiveness can change not only your life but the world. Shakespeare knew it, it was all throughout his plays.
AmNews: You embrace the audience from the beginning of the play, what do you want, the “congregation” as you call, everyone to come away with?
JMT: I need the congregation. I never wanted to do a one-man show. I didn’t want to be up there alone. So, I created the congregation, now I’m not alone and I love it! I love hanging with the congregation every night.
AmNews: Why should people come to see this show?
JMT: It’s entertaining! The first rule of theater is to entertain. You’ll learn something about yourself, and maybe just maybe your life will be changed. You wouldn’t be the first to have their life changed by seeing this play.
