How August Wilson’s words led an LA teen to Pittsburgh and CMU

The excerpted article by Joshua Axelrod appears in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Full article is available here.

August Wilson has opened quite a few doors for Gerardo Navarro.

The 19-year-old Los Angeles native was a junior in high school when cameras began following him around as part of “Giving Voice,” a Netflix documentary about students in the 2018 August Wilson Monologue Competition.

Navarro, who is of Mexican descent, is now a sophomore at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, and he freely admits that years of poring over Wilson’s timeless words played a role in his decision to move across the country to the playwright’s hometown.

“It speaks to August Wilson’s power,” he told the Post-Gazette. “They say he wrote these characters as everyday people. He gave all of these everyday people such beauty. One of the things that I take away from his work and admire so much is that it talks about humanity. At its core, it’s our humanity, our lives.”

Read full article here.

Giving Voice is available for viewing on Netflix.

Pictured above: Gerardo Navarro wears his grandfather’s coat during the 2018 August Wilson Monologue Competition (Netflix).