Wednesday, October 30

4:30 - 6:00 p.m.

Archives & Special Collections Instruction Room, 340 Hillman Library

RSVP below.

Please join us for a discussion with Italian director Renzo Carbonera as we explore the research and work that went into producing and directing the first-ever Italian translation and stage performance of an August Wilson play, Jitney, which premiered in early 2023 in Vicenza. The discussion will be illustrated by excerpts from a recorded production of the play.

Despite his extraordinary relevance within African American and American literature, theatre, and culture, August Wilson is still little known to the general public in Italy. In 2021, the Italian theatre company La Piccionaia Centro Produzione, in collaboration with August Wilson Legacy LLC, the University of Padua – DiSLL Department of Linguistic and Literary Studies, and the University of Pittsburgh – European Studies Center, created The Wilson Project with support of the US Consulate General in Milan.

The project promotes broader knowledge and understanding of the figure and work of August Wilson, as well as of the social and cultural context in which he lived and worked among, to individuals, organizations, and institutions in Italy. Focusing on Jitney (written in 1982) and relating it to contemporary challenges, specifically the increase in immigration and the subsequent spread of a wave of racism in Italy during the time period of the play (1977), the piece was translated by a team of English and Italian-language experts. Its production was directed by Renzo Carbonera and performed by a cast composed entirely of Italian actors of African origin: Alessandra Arcangeli, Yonas Aregay, Maurizio Bousso, Germano Gentile, and Aron Tewelde. 

For more information on The Wilson Project, visit piccionaia.org/the-wilson-project-en/.

Besides his work as a theatre director, Renzo Carbonera is also an artistic director and writer for videogames, audiovisual and multimedia projects for game developer One-o-One in Rome and the Belvedere-Gschwent Foundation. He has directed ten TV documentaries and three short or full-length feature films, which have been selected for multiple international festivals and won prestigious awards. For more information on the Renzo, visit renzocarbonera.com/about.

Hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Library System, European Studies Center, and the Department of French & Italian in partnership with August Wilson House.

Hillman Library is located at 3960 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Free on-street parking is available after 6:00 p.m. on various streets surrounding the library. Paid parking is also available at Soldiers & Sailors Parking Garage (.2 miles from the library). Hillman is also accessible by public transportation. See the Pittsburgh Regional Transit website for planning your trip. 

The entrance to the library is located at the Forbes Avenue address, accessed by a ramp leading from street level to the First Floor plaza. Sidewalks around the library are closed as part of library renovation; follow signs to library entrance.

Please email uls-events@pitt.edu with any questions or accessibility accommodation requests.

RSVP