Carrying the Torch: Akeem Davis & Kash Goins on August Wilson’s Legacy

Akeem Davis: ” [The Arden’s 2019] production of Gem of the Ocean is the best thing I’ve been a part of in my career. August’s work is like a powerful tide, and while he lifted us, we all threw our best at it. I’ve worked on a few of his plays and I’ve read and seen most, and there’s a magic even to that, but I certainly feel like a member of a privileged group to say I’ve made great theatre with August.  Is it too obvious to say his work sets the stage for kinds of family reunions? Artists in all stages of their careers coming together to have such rich conversations about the Black American experience with care and scrutiny—it is a singular experience.”

Kash Goins: “I absolutely feel like a part of the universal Wilson family. I often consider myself a “Wilsonian”, because of the connectedness that I feel to his work. It’s fascinating to get into the nitty gritty of the neighborhood, and to learn and connect the names and relationships that persist from one play to the next. The same “West” that Berniece invoked to threaten Boy Willie in The Piano Lesson showed up in Two Trains Running explaining his family’s ties to being the community undertaker. There are so many connections, major and minor. In this same way, I feel connected to those who have explored the Hill District through this text and spoken these words. I have many close friends and collaborators whose work I experienced for the first time observing them doing August Wilson. But in that same regard, when I go see a show either at Yale, on Broadway, or at a community theatre, I feel an immediate kinship with those who are embodying these characters that I know. I feel very fortunate to be a part of the Arden’s history with this work. Coincidentally, the first show that I saw at Arden was Fences (2004), and I think the second was The Piano Lesson (2008), which was directed by my artistic mentor, Walter Dallas, who was also among Wilson’s close collaborators. I’ve now been fortunate to perform in Two Trains Running (2016), and King Hedley II (2025), while also directing Radio Golf (2023). It’s hard to escape this legacy, and connection. Thankfully, there isn’t a world where I’d want to.”

Can you speak to your history with August Wilson’s work (share experiences, timeline, impactful works?)

Akeem Davis (Citizen Barlow) in The Arden’s 2019 production of Gem of the Ocean.

Akeem Davis: “Blackness is the central tenet of my identity, so I’ve always evaluated my relationship with the “American Dream”. My last name, “Davis,” is one that I hold with pride because it came from my father, but it’s also an Irish name that denotes the former ownership of my ancestors. August is writing about the blessing, challenge, gift and responsibility of Blackness, which is to appreciate one’s roots in a sea of distraction and trauma. I find that August has great clarity around conversations of self-worth, around being brave enough to stare hard at awful, awesome, terrible and terrific histories and be fortified for the better. I love to mine those journeys, because it baptizes me in the same way.”

After that, I was fortunate to join a cast of [The Arden’s 2016 production of] August Wilson’s Two Trains Running. Most people who know me know that August Wilson informs most of journey and my pursuit as a playwright, a director, as an actor He is kind of like my road map, so getting that chance  to play Bobo here granted me the chance to explore the different ways to embody characters.  I think that was also when I got to know the Arden folks more, the Board more, being part of the announcements at the beginning. It was like an introduction of myself to this community. And that is the part of the journey that is part of foundation. Before then, I was mainly an actor I would say, but now I feel like I am part of the fabric.