ABOUT
Dr. John “Ray” Proctor is currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Tulane University, Department of Theatre. He holds a BA in English (Webster University), an MFA in Acting (West Virginia University), and a Ph. D. in Theatre Research (University of Wisconsin Madison). He courses include Acting (1, 2, 3, and 4), African American Theatre History, Theatre for Social Change, How We Learned to Think About Race in America, and Superheroes: Race, Gender, and Orientation.
As an actor appeared as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (The Organic Theatre), Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (Arizona Repertory Theatre), Othello (The Greenbriar), Airline Highway and Father Come Home from the Wars (Southern Rep). He has directed Into the Woods and Little Shop of Horrors (Summer Lyric Theatre), Derek Walcott’s Pantomime (Crescent City Stage), Alice Childress’ Trouble in Mind (Tulane University) and a recent staged reading of Cris Eli Blak’s Sons of Liberty (for the inaugural No Dream Deferred/New Orleans We Will Dream Festival). He has served as the dramaturg for The Public Theatre’s Mobil Unit production of Measure for Measure and The Folger Shakespeare Library’s production (of Karen Ann Daniel’s and Malik Work’s) Our Verse in Time to Come.
In September 2022 his essay Romeo and Juliet at an HBCU was published in the essay collection Romeo and Juliet, Adaptation, and the Arts: ‘Cut Him Out in Little Stars’ (The Arden Shakespeare). In January of 2023 his essay Reconsidering and Recasting was published in Contemporary Black Theatre and Performance: Acts of Rebellion, Activism, and Solidarity (Bloomsbury Press). His primary research examines the intersection of race, casting, and the peculiarities and specifics of identity-conscious casting practices (particularly in Shakespeare) and the spectacle-text.
John “Ray” Proctor, MFA, PhD
Assistant Professor
Tulane University
Department of Theatre and Dance
March 31, 2023
EDUCATION
May 2011
University of Wisconsin-Madison – PhD (Theatre Research/Shakespeare)
Dissertation: Race, Representation, and Robeson: American Audiences Learning to Read the Presence of Black Bodies in Performance
Dissertation Committee: Dr. Michael VandenHeuvel, Dr. Brenda Gayle Plummer, Dr. Karen Britland, Dr. Mary Trotter, Dr. Michael Peterson
September 1995 – May1997
West Virginia University – MFA (Theatre/Acting)
September 1989 – May1993
Webster University – BA (English)
TEACHING/PROFESSIONAL/ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
July 1, 2016 – Present
Tulane University Department of Theatre and Dance (New Orleans, LA)
Assistant Professor
July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2016
Albany State University – Division of Speech and Theatre (Albany, GA)
Director of Theatre
Assistant Professor
May 1, 2010 – June 11, 2013
College of DuPage – Department of Humanities (Glenn Ellyn, Illinois)
Adjunct - Theatre/Western Civilization
May 1, 2008 – June 2010
Elgin Community College (Elgin, Illinois)
Adjunct - Theatre
August 2005 – May 2006
The PEOPLE Program – University of Wisconsin Madison
Program Director – Theatre for Young Audiences
EXHIBITIONS/ COMPOSITIONS/ COMMISSIONS/ PERFORMANCES/ PRODUCTIONS in FINE ARTS
DIRECTING
July 6-9
Theatre, Director
Little Shop of Horrors
Summer Lyric Music Theatre, New Orleans, LA
June 6-10, 2023
Theatre, Director
Sons of Liberty (Staged Reading)
We Will Dream Black Theatre Festival
No Dream Deferred Theatre, New Orleans, LA
September 9-23, 2022
Theatre, Director
Pantomime
Crescent City Stage, New Orleans, LA
https://www.crescentcitystage.com/pantomime
July 14 – 17, 2022
Theatre, Director
Into the Woods
Summer Lyric Music Theatre, New Orleans, LA
April 19 – May 24, 2022
Theatre, Assistant Director/Dramaturg
Jitney
St. Louis Black Rep, St. Louis, MO
https://www.theblackrep.org/jitney
November 9-14, 2021
Theatre, Director
Trouble in Mind
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
March 6-10, 2021
Theatre, Director
She Kills Monsters
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
April 11, 2021
Theatre, Director
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0zQDderfiw
September 14, 2020
Theatre, Director/Actor/Co-Author
Out Loud (Benny) - Virtual Production
We Can All Dunk Productions, Milwaukee, WI
https://www.facebook.com/weallcandunk/videos/946086552578491
April 13, 2020
Theatre, Director
As You Like It - Virtual Reading
Tennessee Williams Theatre Company/No Pants Shakespeare
March 12, 2020
Theatre, Director
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Tulane University, Department of Theatre and Dance, New Orleans, LA
September 14, 2019
Theatre, Director
Coffee Colored Dreams – Staged Reading
No Dream Deferred NOLA, New Orleans, LA
October 2017
Theatre, Director
The Zoo Story/My Cup Ranneth Over
Tulane University, Department of Theatre and Dance, New Orleans, LA
https://www.hannahlax.com/zoo-story/
January 2017
Theatre, Director
Voir Dire by Joe Sutton
Tulane University Department of Theatre and Dance, New Orleans, LA
https://www.hannahlax.com/voire-dire/
April 2016
Theatre, Director
Romeo and Juliet
Albany State University, Albany, GA
November 2015
Theatre, Director
Funnyhouse of a Negro/The Zoo Story
Albany State University, Albany, GA
April 2015
Theatre, Director
Spunk
Albany State University, Albany, GA
November 2014
Theatre, Director
Trouble in Mind
Albany State University, Albany, GA
February 2014
Theatre, Director
The Vagina Monologues
Albany State University (Albany, GA)
May 2006
Theatre, Director
The Colored Museum
The PEOPLE Program
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
February 2005
Theatre, Director
God by Woody Allen
Experimental Theatre Project
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
DRAMATURGY
March 31, 2023
Theatre, Dramaturg
Our Verse in Time to Come
The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC
https://www.folger.edu/whats-on/our-verse-in-time-to-come/
January 18, 2023
Theatre, Dramaturg
The Reading Room: Celebrating New Theatre in the New Year
Julius X and Our Verse in Time to Come
The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC
https://www.folger.edu/whats-on/the-reading-room/
August 13, 2022
Theatre, Dramaturg
The African Company Presents: Richard III
St. Louis Black Rep, St. Louis, MO
https://www.theblackrep.org/richard
July 29 – December 8, 2019
Theatre, Dramaturg
Measure for Measure – (Director, LA Williams)
Joseph A. Papp’s The Public Theatre, New York City, New York
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/theater/measure-for-measure-review.html
https://publictheater.org/productions/season/1920/mobile-measure-for-measure/
January 2011 -
Theatre, Playwright/Co-Author
Out Loud
eta Creative Arts, Chicago, IL
March 2005
Theatre, Dramaturg
Topdog/Underdog
Madison Repertory Theatre, Madison, WI
March 2003
Theatre, Dramaturg
Our Town (Director - Rick Corely/Featuring - Andre DeShields)
Madison Repertory Theatre, Madison, WI
ACTING
February 17, 2022
Theatre, Actor
Xs and Os (Staged Reading)
Tulane University Center for Sport, New Orleans, LA
November 10, 2020
Theatre, Voice Recording/Radio Play, Actor
Hemlock Exchange
The NOLA Project, New Orleans, LA
https://www.nolaproject.com/hemlockexchange
June 29, 2020
Theatre, Actor
The Living Hand (Host) - Virtual Production
Crescent City Stage, New Orleans, LA
https://www.crescentcitystage.com/virtual-reading-series/this-living-hand
May 4, 2020
Theatre, Actor
The Importance of Being Earnest (Reverend Chasuble) - Virtual Reading
Crescent City Stage, New Orleans, LA
https://www.crescentcitystage.com/virtual-reading-series/the-importance-of-being-earnest
July 1 – July 29, 2019
Theatre, Actor
Sense and Sensibility – “Colonel Brandon/Ensemble”
Reno Little Theatre, Reno, Nevada
https://thisisreno.com/2019/07/review-sense-and-sensibility-at-reno-little-theater/
https://renoarts.news/backstage-review-sense-and-sensibility
August 2018
Voice-Over Actor, Tulane Football
Tulane University Football Teaser – Announcer – Tulane University
June/July 2017
Theatre, Actor
The Tempest – “Alonzo”
New Orleans Shakespeare Festival, New Orleans, LA
May/June 2017
Theatre, Actor
Father Comes Home from the Wars: Part 1, 2, and 3 – “Leader… Desirable Slaves” Southern Repertory Theatre, New Orleans, LA
http://www.southernrep.com/plays/father-comes-home-from-the-wars-parts-1-2-3/
September 2016 – November 2016
Theatre, Actor
Airline Highway – “Terry”
Southern Repertory Theatre, New Orleans, LA
http://www.southernrep.com/plays/airline-highway/
July/August 2016
Theatre, Actor
Big River – “Jim”
Tulane Summer Lyric Music Theatre, New Orleans, LA
August 2016
Theatre, Actor
Hamlet – “Ghost”/ “Gravedigger”/ “Lead Player”
Backbone Ensemble Theatre, Kalamazoo, MI
January 2002
Theatre, Actor
Between Men and Cattle – “Ensemble”
Next Act Theatre, Milwaukee, WI
https://www.richardkalinoski.com/copy-of-my-soldiers
November 2003
Theatre, Actor
Les Blancs – “Abioseh”
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
https://news.wisc.edu/african-american-issues-theater-explored/
January 1999
Theatre, Actor
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story – “Emcee”
Ordway Music Theatre (National Tour), St. Paul, MN
October – November 1998
Theatre, Actor
Romeo and Juliet – “Mercutio”
Organic Theatre, Chicago, IL
August - September 1997
Theatre, Actor
Ain’t Misbehavin’ – “Ensemble”
Organic Theatre, Chicago, IL
May 1995
Theatre, Actor
The Merchant of Venice – “Shylock”
Arizona Repertory Theatre, Tucson, AZ
BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS
May 4, 2023
Contributor, Essayist
Contemporary Black Theatre and Performance: Acts of Rebellion, Activism, and Solidarity (Methuen Drama Agitations: Text, Politics, and Performances)
“Hamilton: Considering Casting”
https://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-Black-Theatre-Performance-Performances/dp/1350252913
September 22, 2022
Contributor, Essayist
The Arden Shakespeare: Rome and Juliet, Adaptation, and the Arts: ‘Cut him out in little stars’. Edited by Julia Lupton and Ariane Helou. London, England: The Arden Shakespeare/Bloomsbury Press, 2021.
“Romeo and Juliet at an Historically Black College/University”
https://www.amazon.com/Romeo-Juliet-Adaptation-Arts-Shakespeare/dp/1350109207
May 19, 2016
Contributor, Essayist
Auditioning for Actor Training Programs
Ed. Elizabeth Terrell. Proctor Chapter/Interview.
https://www.amazon.com/Auditioning-Training-Programs-Elizabeth-Terrel/dp/1516529154
INVITED LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS, PANELS, SEMINARS, MASTER CLASSES
July 25-30, 2023
Invited Panelist
British Shakespeare Association - Liverpool, UK
The Folger Shakespeare Investigates: “Shakespeare Locations”
Shakespeare in the Northern and Southern Americas: A Panel Presentation featuring
Reflections and Discoveries from University at Buffalo and Tulane University
Conference Presentation
July 19-23, 2023
Invited Panelist
Black Theatre Network - St. Louis
Dramaturgy in a New Age: And What is ‘Dramaturgy’ Exactly?
Conference Presentation
June 2, 2023
Invited Panelist/Featured Guest
Everyday Shakespeare Podcast: Race and Representation in Casting Shakespeare
Hosts Jill Ruby and Michelle Ephraim
Podcast Interview
March 30, 2023
Invited Seminar Participant
Shakespeare Association of America - Minneapolis
Shakespeare’s Propositional Third Spaces: Thinking Beyond the Binary
Conference Presentation - “Discoveries in ‘Eight Othellos’”
March 24, 2023
Invited Panelist
2023 Tennessee Williams Scholars Conference
The Historic New Orleans Collection and the Tennessee Williams Annual Review
https://tennesseewilliamsstudies.org/conference/
February 25-28, 2023
Panel Co-Organizer (with Dr. Mike Kuczynski, TU - Department of English)
Rac(e)ing the Shakespearean Archive
The Folger Shakespeare Library, Tulane University Departments of Theatre and English
New Orleans, LA
https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/raceing-shakespeare
February 2, 2023
Invited Panelist
Tulane Vocal Arts Festival: The Race for Equity Diversity, and Inclusion in Lyric Theare
Tulane University Department of Music, New Orleans, LA
Invited by Associate Professor, Amy Pfrimmer - (replacement panelist)
February 3, 2023
Panel Organizer
African American Women Affecting the Arts in New Orleans
New Orleans Center for the Gulf South, Tulane University Department of Theatre and Dance, New Orleans, LA
March 11, 2022
Theatre Performance, Invited Instructor
Master Class: Embodying Identity in Performance
Fort Lewis College
1000 Rim Drive
Durango, Colorado 81301
March 10, 2022
Theatre Criticism, Invited Lecturer
Considering Race and Identity: Color Conscious Casting
Fort Lewis College
1000 Rim Drive
Durango, Colorado 81301
February 2, 2021
Theatre Criticism, Invited Lecturer/Guest
Backstage Stories with Marcia Pendleton:
Making Sense of Shakespeare in Performance
Walk Tall Girl Productions
The program can be heard live at 99.5 FM in the Metro New York area
or streams live at wbai.org.
February 1, 2021
Theatre Criticism, Invited Lecturer
Transformation! 100 Years of African American Theatre
From the African Grove Theatre (1821) to Shuffle Along (1921)
NYU Gallatin School
1 Washington Place, 8th Floor
New York City, NY 10003
August 21, 2021
Theatre Criticism, Invited Interview
Bard on the Beach
Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival
BMO Theatre Center, Vancouver, BC
December 3, 2020
Lecture, Invited Guest Lecturer
Staging the Semiotics of Power in William Shakespeare’s “Othello”
University of Portsmouth
White Swan Building/White Swan Road
Research Seminar Series
July 23, 2020
Film, Respondent, Theorist
The Pandemic: Parts 1, 2, and 3(Virtual Production)
We Can All Dunk Productions, Milwaukee, WI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCYRGErmOc0
May 1, 2020
Theatre Criticism, Host/Panelist
A Virtual Discussion: Adam Smethurt’s “Twelfth Night”
Tulane University, University of New Hampshire, NYU:The Gallitin School
Virtual Discussion: https://tulane.zoom.us/j/99817538337
April 3, 2020
Lecture, Invited Guest Lecturer
Color Conscious Casting and Shakespeare
Emory & Henry College
Emory, VA
December 2, 2019
Lecture Presentation, Dramaturg
Mondays at the Public Series – Measure for Measure
Joseph A. Papp’s The Public Theatre
September 19, 2019
Theatre Criticism, Lecturer
CSPAN3 – American History TV, Lecture Series
“August Wilson and Fences”
https://www.c-span.org/video/?458985-1/playwright-august-wilson-fences
April 2019
Shakespeare Criticism, Invited Panelist
Shakespeare and the Practical Humanities: “Who is Getting Paid?”
Shakespeare Association of America – Washington, DC
September 2018
Shakespeare Criticism, Seminar Participant
“What’s Good for Gertrude is Good for Alexander: or, If ‘Black’ People Can Get Cast in Hamlet, Why Can’t White People Get Cast in Hamilton?”
Shakespeare Pedagogy and Performance – Shakespeare Festival Conference
Grand Valley State University/Grand Valley, Michigan
August 2018 – (Air Date: November 2018)
Theatre Criticism, Interview
Shakespeare, Hamilton, and the American Academic Canon (Podcast Interview)
Podcast Interview with Maria Devlin McNair
Interview Panelists – Dr. Stephen Greenblatt, Oskar Eustas, Dr. John “Ray” Proctor
April 2018
Article, Shakespeare Criticism, Seminar Participant
“Romeo and Juliet and an HBC/U”
Shakespeare Association of America – Los Angeles
March 2017
Article, Shakespeare Criticism, Seminar Participant
“Negotiating the Idea of ‘Black’ Shakespeare”
Shakespeare Association of America - Atlanta
ALL COURSES TAUGHT at TULANE
Fall 2023
50272 COLQ 1020-07 How We Learned to Think About Race in America
50820 THEA 2110-01 Acting 1
93081 THEA 3315-01 Acting Practicum
40363 THEA 4410-01 Theatre and Social Change
30937 TIDE 1125-01 New Orleans as a Dungeons and Dragons Campaign
Spring 2023
55345 THEA 4750-01 African American Theatre History
55355 THEA 4750-02 African American Theatre History (Tier 2 Writing)
55353 THEA 4010 -01 Acting III (Acting Shakespeare)
Fall 2022
40753 COLQ 1020-07 How We Learned to Think About Race in America
30937 TIDE 1125-01 New Orleans as a Dungeons and Dragons Campaign
31292 THEA 1010-01 Plays & Playwrights
40363 THEA 4410-01 Theatre and Social Change
Spring 2022
Semester - (Research Leave)
Fall 2021
30910 COLQ 1020-26 How We Learned to Think About Race in America
31301 THEA 4750-01 African American Theatre History (Duren Professorship course)
31949 THEA 6140-01 Ensemble Production
32109 THEA 6890-01 Service Learning
30937 TIDE 1125-01 New Orleans as a D&D Campaign
Spring 2021
36804 COLQ 1030-05 Quest for Answers
42995 THEA 3315-01 Acting Practicum
50282 THEA 4750-03 African American Theatre History
50828 TIDE 1026-02 Superheroes: Race/Gender/Orientation
Fall 2020
93012 THEA 1010-01 Plays and Playwrights
93034 THEA 2100-15 Fundamentals of Acting
98353 THEA 2110-01 Acting I
Spring 2020
36800 COLQ 1030-01 A Quest for Answers/Research Intro
42996 THEA 3315-02 Acting Practicum
47037 THEA 4750-01 African American Theatre History
43003 THEA 4750-02 African American Theatre History (Writing Intensive)
48130 THEA 5000-03 Honors Thesis (Spencer Barbera)
48126 THEA 7920-03 Speech and Rhetoric
Fall 2019
86509 COLQ 1020-01 Superheroes: Race, Gender and, Orientation
93035 THEA 3010-01 Intermediate Acting
97713 THEA 5000-01 Honors Thesis
96692 TIDE 1125-01 NOLA: A Dungeons and Dragons Campaign
Spring 2019
42969 THEA 2100-09 Fundamentals of Acting
43067 THEA 3010-01 Theatre for Social Justice
43003 THEA 4750-01 African American Theatre History
Summer 2018
African American Women Effecting the Art in New Orleans - Independent Study
Jackson, Kayla (English, MA)
Fall 2018
93034 THEA 2100-15 Fundamentals of Acting
93035 THEA 3010-01 Intermediate Acting
Spring 2018
41815 THEA 5000-01 Honors Thesis (Jordan Eisenberg)
39688 THEA 6920-01 African American Theatre History
Fall 2017
90288 THEA 2100-11 Fundamentals of Acting
90319 THEA 3910-01 Acting Shakespeare
92183 THEA 4990-01 Honors Thesis (Jordan Eisenberg)
Spring 2017
37170 THEA 3010-01 Intermediate Acting
35615 THEA 6920-01 African American Theatre History
Fall 2016
85791 THEA 2100-15 Fundamentals of Acting