Guest Blog: Actor Michael Salami On August Wilson's TWO TRAINS RUNNING

Interestingly, I was having a conversation with myself (as you do) a week into rehearsals and was reminded of the lack of history I was taught as a kid in school growing up. In fact, I remember the history books. The only information I was taught about black history was that black people were slaves and that Martin Luther King had a dream.

What an honour it is to immerse myself into black history. I've learnt so much about the Civil Rights Movement, Jim Crow laws, the Black Panthers, American history, slavery and so on. Having a son feels like a bonus, as I now have the knowledge of my history I can pass on.

Being cast in an August Wilson play feels like an honour; I studied his work at drama school. He is described as the black Shakespeare. His words and characters are so full of life - half my job feels done already. How he expresses the black experience feels so relatable even to this day.

There are two Americas: the white experience America, and the coloured experience America. On any given day, white people can live as their authentic selves. But there is something about the black experience, where one has to choose when to tone down their "blackness" - whether that be for a job interview or talking to the police.

The rehearsal process has been an amazing time. I've had to really do my homework on my character, his history, political views, music he listens too. Every morning, I listen to a 1960s playlist - the likes of Sam Cooke, James Brown, Aretha Franklin. The words and songs mean so much more to me.

I play the part of Sterling Johnson, an ex-inmate, who is a big dreamer, with a lot of passion. Two Trains Running is based in a diner with seven main characters. None related, but all come together - break bread, sip coffee. It's like a family. Sterling is the only character who has to be welcomed into the diner family. And he does as the naughty cousin (we all have one).

This play has opened my eyes to the amount my ancestors have gone through. What they stood for. The bravery in standing up for their rights - so that many of us today have human rights.

But the irony is, it's gone from "I had a dream" to "Black Lives Matter". We still have a long way to go.

Another American playwright I love is Stephen Adly Guirgis, and he says "The play is yours, and these characters authentically belong to whoever has the heart and emotional generosity to claim them. So claim them. Make them yours. Give them some love. They were written for you." This play was written for me, and I can't wait to get lost in the world of Two Trains Running.

Find full tour dates and venues for Two Trains Running here

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

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