LILY JANIAK’S THEATER PICK

Fourteen years after the death of August Wilson, there’s still a play in the two-time Pulitzer winner’s oeuvre that hasn’t been produced in the Bay Area.

“How I Learned What I Learned” is not a part of his extraordinary Pittsburgh Cycle of 10 plays chronicling the whole 20th century from a black point of view. But like most of those works, this autobiographical one-man show, which Wilson performed himself in 2003, is set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. In it he delves into a rough-and-tumble two-year period of his youth, one shaped by corrosive racism that Wilson denounces in perhaps his most direct terms.

Three local theater companies partner for the effort. The show begins previews this week at Mill Valley’s Marin Theatre Company, then heads to San Francisco’s Buriel Clay Theater (Feb. 14-24) under the auspices of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, winding up in Berkeley in March, courtesy of Ubuntu Theater Project.

Two titans of Bay Area theater helm the piece, Steven Anthony Jones performing and Margo Hall directing.

“How I Learned What I Learned”:

7:30 p.m. ThursdaySaturday, Jan. 10-12; 4 p.m. next Sunday, Jan. 13. Through Feb. 3 at Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. $25$60. 415-388-5208. www.marintheatre.org; Feb. 14-24 at Buriel Clay Theater, 762 Fulton St., S.F. $20-$40. 415-3453980. www.lhtsf.org; TBA March dates at Waterfront Playhouse and Conservatory, 2020 Fourth St., Berkeley. www. ubuntutheaterproject.com share. And descending the venue’s mysterious steps into an all-arabesque lounge (with drinks and appetizers available for purchase) for preshow close-up magic and then entering a tiny jewel box theater for the actual show are experiences in and of themselves. Ongoing. 90 minutes. $45. Marrakech Magic Theater, 419 O’Farrell St., S.F. www.sanfranciscomagictheater.com.

— L. Janiak Cirque du Soleil’s street sports-themed show is propelled by exquisitely defined moods that give each acrobatic sequence a motive for existing beyond “Here’s an amazing feat!” Here, BMX biking, unicycling, ballet and Double Dutch aren’t just thrilling; they’re emotionally

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