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b'Actor Wendell Pierce discovered his affinity for the arts in trigonometry class. That discovery has taken him to such productions as \\u201cThe Wire,\\u201d \\u201cTreme,\\u201d \\u201cSelma,\\u201d and more. It also has taken him to "Death of a Salesman" and more recently "Some Old Black Man," a digital performance with U-M\'s University Musical Society.\\n\\n\\u201cIn trigonometry, I figured out someone could use the same toolbox and come up with a different proof,\\u201d says the actor. \\u201cBut the authenticity of the truth within that proof doesn\\u2019t change. There\\u2019s an absolute truth, no matter how you get there.\\u201d\\n\\nThat\\u2019s when Pierce first understood Shakespeare. And that\\u2019s how he understood Arthur Miller\\u2019s Willy Loman, a performance that earned him an Olivier Award nomination during a West End run of \\u201cSalesman\\u201d in London.\\n\\n\\u201cIn every generation, a great actor can illuminate something that hasn\'t been seen before,\\u201d Pierce says of writers like Miller. \\u201cAnd that\\u2019s artistry. That\\u2019s what makes a classic.\\u201d\\n\\nWhat Pierce hopes to illuminate by making digital art with UMS, during the quarantine, is another undeniable truth. The actor recently completed a digital artist residency at UMS where he starred in the digital production of the 2015 play \\u201cSome Old Black Man\\u201d by James Anthony Tyler. The two-man show about a father and son co-stars Pierce as Calvin and Charlie Robinson as Donald, his father. The cast and crew lived and worked together under quarantine to rehearse and ultimately film the play at Detroit\\u2019s Jam Handy.\\n\\nDespite the heavy reliance on technology to rehearse, produce, and film the play, Pierce declares the humanity shines through. \\n\\n\\u201cI learned that the human element cannot be eliminated, even when there\'s a predominance of technology in the equation of how you work,\\u201d he says. \\n\\nRead more at michigantoday.umich.edu'