Actors Talk August Presented by August Wilson House: Brenden Peifer and Melessie Clark

August Wilson House celebrates America’s greatest playwright with substantial insider interviews, with leading August Wilson actors, directors and artists, national and regional. Hosted and moderated  by Chris Rawson, veteran Pittsburgh Post-Gazette theater critic who chronicled Wilson’s career and became a friend. The goal is to capture the memories, anecdotes and insights of those who know Wilson’s epic American Century Cycle from the inside.

Brenden Peifer and Melessie Clark

This is an unusual interview for Actors Talk August: a duo of young actors just finishing their first August Wilson play. Brenden Peifer and Melessie Clark are playing Sterling and Risa in “Two Trains Running,” directed by Justin Emeka at Pittsburgh Public Theater (through June 19). Their first encounter with August Wilson traditions, characters and an experienced cast feeds plenty of thought by two lively, smart, responsive professionals just starting their August Wilson journeys.

Each previous edition can be viewed via the links below:

1) Oct. 19 ATA Featuring Eugene Lee and Wali Jamal

2) Nov. 2 ATA Featuring  Montae Russell

3) Nov. 16 ATA Featuring Mark Clayton Southers

4) Dec. 7 ATA Featuring Ruben Santiago-Hudson

5) Jan. 4 ATA Featuring Eileen J Morris

6) Jan 18 ATA Featuring Stephen McKinley Henderson

7) Feb 1 ATA Featuring Phylicia Rashad

8) Feb 15 ATA Featuring Todd Kreidler

9) Mar 1 ATA Featuring Leland Gantt

10) Mar 15 ATA Featuring Derrick Sanders

11) Apr 5 ATA Featuring Yvette Ganier

12) April 19 ATA featuring James Williams

13) May 3 ATA Featuring David Gallo

14) May 17 ATA Featuring Kenny Leon

15) June 7 ATA Featuring Russell Andrews

16)  Sep 13 ATA Featuring Jack Viertel

17) Oct 4 ATA Featuring Narda E. Alçcorn 

18) Oct 18 ATA Featuring Kim Sullivan

19)  NOV 4 ATA Featuring Ron Himes

20) Nov 15 ATA Featuring Timothy Douglas

21) Dec 06 ATA Featuring Todd Kreidler(2)

22) Jan 10 ATA Featuring Sala Udin

23) Jan 24 ATA Featuring George C. White

24) Feb 7 ATA Featuring Mark Clayton Southers(2)

25) Feb 21 ATA Featuring Jerome Preston Bates

26) Mar 7 ATA Featuring Ekundayo Bandele

27) Mar 21 ATA Featuring Chuck Smith

28) Apr 4 ATA Featuring Ron OJ Parson

29) Apr 18 ATA Featuring Kim Staunton

30) May 2 ATA Featuring Charles Dumas

August Wilson House (AWH) is Wilson’s Hill District childhood home at 1727 Bedford Ave. It is being restored as an arts center that will promote his artistic and cultural legacy while nurturing the artists of the future. Although the restoration won’t be finished until 2022, AWH is already sponsoring a wide range of programs including the annual Hill District Block Party/Community Festival, backyard productions in collaboration with Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater, AWH Fellowships in collaboration with Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh, August in the Schools (debuting this fall), several oral history projects and other programs centering community engagement.