Jacob Ming-Trent was 12 when a Pittsburgh drama club handed him a speech from Henry V. In a couple of days, he’ll be here to tell you all about it. This week we’re writing about what happens when a simple act becomes a big idea, and the small communities we build around shared experiences.
Imagine being 12 years old and struggling at home in Pittsburgh in 1992. A drama club asks you to read the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V. Complex rhythms, phrasing, and dialectic turns that you’d never hear on "Saved by the Bell,” but at the same time something familiar is in there. You’re finding it, poking at the truth in it in ways beyond your years.
What could a kid possibly have in common with this famous British war cry?
Jacob Ming-Trent didn’t know that his curiosity for Shakespeare would begin to change how people saw him, or that it would springboard his career, starting with enrolling at Pittsburgh’s CAPA, then the Public Theater (New York), and Broadway.
He only knew that the Bard’s words fit in his mouth in a way other things didn’t.
On November 11, Jacob brings his story home to the O’Reilly Theater with How Shakespeare Saved My Life, the first production we’re presenting as Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh.
Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
Henry VIII, Act 1, Scene 4
We’ve been asking ourselves a simple question as we planned this first season together: what makes people come back? Not to a building or a brand, but to each other. Who are we making this for?
Our answer is community, not broadly, but in a specific sense. Community forms when people gather around something they are excited by, something they believe in, an idea that makes them want to spend time together.
Community is what creates movements and propels blockbusters. When a show resonates with an audience directly, the conversation that continues after fans the flame and spreads that community wide.
So for every production, we’re working to build intentional community experiences around the central ideas that make the show tick. People can find their way for their own reasons and leave connected to each other.
Jacob’s show makes one idea very easy to see: What does it mean to see your own life reflected on stage, and to decide your story is worth telling?
Here is how we’re building around it.
Only You Can Tell It: A CTOP Workshop
A workshop for anyone with a story.
On Thursday, November 5 at 7 p.m., Pittsburgh playwright and Confluence board member TJ Young leads Only You Can Tell It, a free online session on finding the stories in your own life. TJ teaches dramaturgy at Carnegie Mellon, and Pittsburgh Public Theater commissioned his play The Inseparables. He has a generous definition of who counts as a writer: “The second that you feel like you have to put an idea down on paper, you’re a writer.” He’ll walk you through the distance you’ve traveled, the moments you’re proud of and the ones that won’t leave you alone. Then he’ll help you work out whether what you’ve found is a story, a spoken-word piece or a play. Bring a notebook. Listening counts as taking part.
Building Community, One Person at a Time
We’re designing experiences for our audiences that emphasize Confluence Theater is Pittsburgh’s theater. Follow us here or at www.ConfluenceTheater.org to get notifications about other community events and workshops:
Time with Jacob. We’re working with Jacob on an in-person workshop while he’s in town. Details are coming soon.
Young people in the seats. We’re pairing donors with local schools to cover the cost of tickets for students who otherwise couldn’t come. We want students to leave wondering where their own small sparks of identity might take them. Interested in contributing? Contact us at info@confluencetheater.org.
Partners across the city. As we grow, we will be building relationships with advocates around Pittsburgh who will join us in different ways throughout the year. This is the part of the work we expect to grow the most, and we’ll share more as those partnerships take shape.
We’ve also tried to make the show itself more accessible. Ticket costs are regularly cited as one of the challenges to seeing live performance. It’s hard to take a $200 risk on a show you don’t know. We’re all about ticket transparency - our prices are openly available to everyone.
Pay-what-you-want preview: Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.
Opening night: Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m., with live audio description
Artist rate: contact us at info@confluencetheater.org to get on the list for working artists in our community
Student tickets: $20 tickets for anyone 18 and under
Rush tickets for everyone: $25 tickets available day-of, starting at 10 AM with code HOTTIX. < Perfect date-night that won’t break the bank.
ASL-interpreted performance: Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m.
And, for those ready to subscribe: CTOP Subscribers save 15% on tickets to How Shakespeare Saved My Life.
This is what “Made in Pittsburgh” means to us.
It means a student from a school down the road, a retiree with a notebook and a working actor on an artist ticket can end up in the same room, talking about the same story.
Jacob’s story started with one speech, handed to one kid, in one Pittsburgh room. What might this limited engagement inspire that outlasts our closing on November 22? Time will tell.
How Shakespeare Saved My Life runs Nov. 11–22 at the O’Reilly Theater. Get tickets
📖 Further Reading
Preview: Jacob Ming-Trent Finds a Lifesaver in Shakespeare
onStage Pittsburgh
Sharon Eberson traces Jacob’s path from a childhood drama club reading of Henry V to the solo show coming to the O’Reilly. She covers how identifying as a Shakespearean actor changed how people treated him, and how the piece grew out of a cabaret he wrote for Shakespeare & Company.
Why it matters for Pittsburgh: It’s the hometown version of a story audiences in Berkeley, Washington and New York have already heard, told by a Pittsburgh writer about a Pittsburgh kid.
The Future of the Theatre Is Young
American Theatre
Sara Morgulis of TYA/USA argues that theaters should invest in young audiences now instead of waiting for them to age into subscribers. She points to school partnerships and community collaborations that are holding up despite steep cuts to federal arts and education funding.
Why it matters for Pittsburgh: Our donor-supported student tickets are a small local version of the bet she describes, and the funding pressures she names are ones Pittsburgh organizations feel too.
Behind the Philly Boom of Pay-What-You-Can Theater Tickets
Broad Street Review
Philadelphia theater festivals have widely adopted pay-what-you-can pricing, and most participating companies report more new audience members. The piece is candid about the costs, including more no-shows and income that doesn’t always reach artists, and it looks at the models festivals are testing to balance the two.
Why it matters for Pittsburgh: It’s the honest version of the tradeoff behind our own preview pricing, and a useful look at how a neighboring theater city is working through it.