Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Dickson
Hi Rachel, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I moved to Houston in 1997 with the plan to stay one year. One year to the date, I thought “This isn’t so bad. I think I will stay a little longer.” I was working at the time at The Ensemble Theatre as the Touring and Education Coordinator which I filled for just shy of 2 years. I worked in the arts all over the city but often found a home in TET. After serving this institution and others as actor, teaching artist, director, dramaturg, playwright, administrator, and volunteer, I was fortunate enough in 2018 to interview and be given the opportunity to serve The Ensemble Theatre as the BOLD Artistic Associate, which later became Associate Artistic Director. A master’s degree, a marriage and 3 children later, I am still here.
My journey began watching my sister in a pageant when I was 8. She was doing a monologue. The audience was with her and she was filled with emotion. I was mesmerized. I wanted people to feel with me. I still did not know it was something I could really do. In 8th grade, I wanted to be Aunty Em in The Wizard of Oz. When offered a Munchkin, I refused, feeling defeated, and sat in the pit band playing the French Horn instead. It mattered but still did not occur to me that performance was a viable life choice. In High School, I participated in productions, but my family made it clear I must have a “respectable” career. It was still not clear to me it could be something I could do. In high school I cried for a week because I was not allowed to audition for one show, racism at work. But what I learned was, I loved the doing of the art. I went on to college to get a degree that would “allow me to take care of myself”, per my mother’s requirements. Engineering was not it! While working at an internship where, even to date, I made more money per month than I have ever made, I heard so many older folks say “I coulda” or “I shoulda” then my mother died during that same summer and her final unfinished phrase was “before I d…” which she repeated over and over as her body shut down. I knew I had to pursue the thing that brought me joy and made me want to affect the world. I wanted to be able to finish her phrase for myself. I went on to get my MFA in Acting from University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, immediately after completing my Bachelor of Science in Engineering.
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?
When I applied to grad school for acting, I was completing an engineering degree, and the theater folks told me It would be unlikely for me to get into a program. Programs only accept six students per year, they said. This was a struggle that, once proved wrong, made me view industry struggles as opportunities to problem solve and make whatever it is happen!
Struggle’s lead to blessings if you keep it all in perspective. It is like going the wrong way, but seeing something beautiful you would not have seen. Okay, beyond philosophizing–I have been challenged by racism as folks have not allowed me to audition or only considered me for the roles they deemed acceptable for brown skinned artists. Being asked to sound more “soulful” has presented more than once. The greatest struggle related to race was my thinking I was an actor first, then African-American, and for a time that was how I believed I should be seen. Once I realized and embraced that, in this country, I will always be Black FIRST then whatever else, the struggle shifted to my unapologetic existence as an equal to all.
I wanted to direct more and do a certain kind of work. I waited for a few theaters to engage me. This was a struggle. So, I started my own company–DRIVEN TEHATER COMPANY–to create the space I wanted to see in the world.
The world of theater administration makes more room for directors, producers and designers than for actors. I find it a struggle to assert and fulfill my artistic needs while meeting the unfair, in my opinion, imbalance placed upon admins who are/were actors.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
In 2010 I was the Founding Artistic Director of Driven Theater Company which is dedicated to empowering, connecting, and entertaining diverse audiences during quality issue-driven theater, and education designed to encourage the healthy development of the individual, the family, and society. While I currently serve on the Board, the company goes on with dynamic programming intended to give voice to the voiceless and make didactic information come to life. It currently supports a project centering truths to be told that are presented as myths in the American education system telling of history. This is in partnership with Brave Little Company(BLC).
As an independent artist I worked with BLC on their Big Us programming that provides space for artists who are immigrants and refugees in the Houston community to share their craft. I also direct and act whenever possible, in relationship to and beyond The Ensemble Theatre. For example, I directed a lovey production of Cullud Wattah by Erika Dickerson-Despenza at Stages Theater and performed in The Odyssey by Derrick Walcott at The Alley Theater.
The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins to preserve African American artistic expression and enlighten, entertain and enrich a diverse community. Decades later, the theatre has evolved from a touring company operating from the trunk of Mr. Hawkins’ car to being one of Houston’s finest historical cultural institutions. The Ensemble is one of the only professional theatres in the region dedicated to the production of works portraying the African American experience, the oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest and holds the distinction of being one of the nation’s largest African American theatres owning and operating its facility and producing in-house. The Ensemble Theatre has fulfilled and surpassed the vision of its founder and continues to expand and create innovative programs to bring African American theatre to a myriad of audiences. The programs and operations of The Ensemble Theatre benefit a multicultural audience that is diverse in age, income, ethnicity, and culture. Its core audience is African American. The Ensemble Theatre produces a Mainstage Season of six contemporary and classical works devoted to the portrayal of the African American experience by local and national playwrights and artists. The Ensemble’s Touring and Educaton Department provides educational workshops, artist-in-residence experiences, and live performances for students both off-site and at the theatre, and the Young Performers Program which offers intensive fall, spring and summer training for youth ages 6 to 17 encompassing instruction in all disciplines of the theatre arts. Lastly, the Celebrating the Creative Journey series includes such offerings as panel discussions, staged readings, master classes, and workshops designed to provide year-round enrichment and service to the patron and artistic community. Through all its varied programs, The Ensemble historically reached over 65,000 people annually.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
BOOKS: The Bible and Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth
APPS: VA’s Mindfulness Coach and apps that highlight mind dexterity games
THE MOTH reminds me to love storytelling
WRITTEN WORDS: The WASHINGTON POST, Hello! Houston, and Lauren Halvorsen: Nothing from the
Group –these keep me informed about what is going on in the world
