S1E5: Setting, Place, and Belonging in Boston Theater

Actors' Shakespeare Project’s Gem of the Ocean

In this episode of Scene in Boston, hosts Laura Amico and Lisa Thalhamer sit down with award-winning actor and educator Kadahj Bennett ahead of his role as Caesar Wilkes in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, produced this spring by Actors Shakespeare Project. The episode is a deep dive into why Wilson's work feels urgently alive right now, and what happens when theater meets the community it's speaking to.

Kadahj — who chairs the theater department at Boston Arts Academy and has performed at the Huntington, Speakeasy Stage, and ART — unpacks the themes that make Gem of the Ocean feel startlingly present today: wealth disparity, extrajudicial violence, the meaning of freedom, and the ways women are the backbone of their communities and yet still pushed to the margins. The conversation also explores the structure of Wilson's ten-play American Century Cycle, the show-by-show excitement audiences felt when those plays were first being released, and why Aunt Esther — one of Wilson's most mythic characters — makes her first chronological appearance here.

Mentioned in this episode

Gem of the Ocean August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, produced by Actors Shakespeare Project at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury. Opens April 16 and runs through May 17, 2026. Tickets available through Actors Shakespeare Project.

Huntington Theatre — August Wilson Birthday Celebration The Huntington, which produced seven of Wilson's American Century Cycle plays before their Broadway runs beginning in 1986, will celebrate Wilson's birthday on April 27. The theater's renovated lobby is named in Wilson's honor.

Also discussed

Oedipus el Rey — Huntington Theatre Company A Latinx retelling Oedipus. May 7- June 7. Tickets here.

Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous — Lyric Stage. Recently closed.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom– Goodman Theater, Chicago. Mar 28 – May 3, 2026

Cats the Jellicle Ball– Broadhurst Theater, New York. Through September 6.

You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World — Company One. Recently closed. 

Marisol — Boston Arts Academy. Recently closed.

Eight Minutes Left — Boston Arts Academy Senior showcase production. Upcoming later this spring.

Gloria — Boston Arts Academy Sophomore showcase production. Upcoming later this spring.

Visit bostonartsacademy.org for dates and details on BAA productions.