In partnership with The Union for Contemporary Art, Metropolitan Community College and Great Plains Theatre Commons, the Omaha Community Playhouse is hosting a series of community events in conjunction with the opening of August Wilson’s Fences on the Hawks Mainstage Theatre.

Before the opening night performance, Dr. Khalid Y. Long and Wali Jamal will discuss the work of August Wilson and how he has impacted theater. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers and learn more about August Wilson and Black theater.

Dr. Khalid Y. Long is a scholar, dramaturg, and director specializing in African American/Black diasporic theatre, performance, and literature through the lenses of Black feminist/womanist thought, queer studies, and performance studies. Accordingly, his work pays close attention to the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality within marginalized and oppressed communities. Dr. Long has published many scholarly essays and has written a book about August Wilson and his work, to be printed in 2024.

Wali Jamal is a prolific actor based in Pittsburgh and is world-renowned in the theatre community as the only actor to have appeared in all 11 of August Wilson’s plays.