Today we’d like to introduce you to Renee Harrison.
Hi Renee, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m an actor, digital content creator, and founder of Black Girls Do Theater.
My journey so far has been exciting. Acting was and still remains my first love. Like many of us, I found joy in storytelling as a child and it just happened to stick with me. As fate would have it, I was able to leverage that into my many interests.
Coming out of college in 2018, I had grand ideas of what my post-grad life would be. It hasn’t been exactly what I imagined but I’m pleased to say that I’ve been able to pivot pretty well into something better. I now consider myself to be a multi-hyphenate, occupying several different creative spaces. The new acting projects that I’ve had the opportunity to work on has helped me to become more certain about the style of work that I am interested in pursuing. The same goes for Black Girls Do Theater. It almost feels like an incubator where my relationship to Black theater and my community can grow.
I’m very proud of the work I’ve been able to do in both my acting career and with Black Girls Do Theater and though I don’t often take the time to hold space for that acknowledgment, my community makes sure to remind me. In conversation with a friend recently, we made the discovery that the digital content work I engage in is still the art of storytelling, just through a different medium. That was very reassuring.
Not knowing where I will go next brings me a ton of excitement. I’ve long affirmed that I am the co-creator of my reality and I have a couple of ideas for the universe to review. Let’s hope it all works out!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not. In an ideal world, I’d say that I’ve overcome them but truly, my biggest obstacle has been trusting myself and the work I create. I know there are other artists that can relate to this.
For so long, especially now with social media, I’ve felt the pressure of creating for public consumption. It’s often paralyzed me, creating feelings of doubt and distrust in my creative abilities. I’m not entirely past this obstacle, and I don’t imagine that I will be for some time. I do however find peace in knowing that I’ve gotten much more comfortable with sharing the bits and pieces of my creative process with my friends and family. Those who are closest to me and are often the ones I go to for advice during my process.
Right now, I’m prioritizing ease for myself and in my work. I want to create the perfect environment for which my artistic self can thrive. That’s what I’m working on at present.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Black Girls Do Theater?
Black Girls Do Theater is an online curation of culture and resources for Black woman-identifying theater artists. A longtime labor of love, this space was created to amplify the work of Black woman theater artists across generations.
Founded in 2017, Black Girls Do Theater initially started as a space for me to document my experience while performing in a production of William Shakespeare’s “A Winter’s Tale”. At the time, I was one of 3 actors of color in a cast of about 17 and found myself wondering what spaces existed for Black woman creatives to commune and seek advice for being in spaces like the one I was in. I couldn’t find a space, so I created one. That’s how Black Girls Do Theater was birthed.
In the time that Black Girls Do Theater has existed, we’ve been able to partner with some of NYC’s major artistic institutions to bring Black girls and women to the theater, conducted interviews to highlight the many spaces that Black creatives occupy in the industry, and position the work of emerging artists in the field, front and center.
Black Girls Do Theater is far bigger than myself or anything that I, Renee, can claim. I simply steer the ship and allow the community to guide me.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
SO MANY PEOPLE DESERVE CREDIT.
My community is my heart and I am so grateful to have people who champion me. These are my family friends, community members and sister organizations who uphold and reaffirm me. I am who I say I am because my community has invested time and love into guiding me towards myself.
To my Mom and Dad, Uncle Roniel (Francis), Jupiter DuBois, Shams Sharieff, Mariama Jalloh, Marina Montesanti, Lia Monet, Kandace Moore, Doriana Diaz, Alexis Smalley, Dylan K. Ayisi, Kofi Black, Brittani Samuel, Maya Shah, Laura Walton, Melissa Denizard, K’yana Faulkner Smith, Joe Taylor, Pastor Brown and so many others, I thank you for being an extension of The Source, a true reflection of God’s divine positioning, and for speaking life into me. I am because you are.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackgirlsdotheater/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackgirlsdotheater/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/blkgrlstheater?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfrrgrwZc7ow2OyL912BYKA
Image Credits
Photos by Renee Harrison
