Episode 21: The Walk of Faith and Courage with Shakespearean Actor Warren "Ren" Jackson

The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity

Following the creative path professionally requires faith and courage, as exemplified by our current guest Warren “Ren” Jackson. Originally from Indianapolis (where he and Melinda went school together growing up), Ren went on to earn an MFA from the University of Arizona, and then to a professional acting career with an emphasis on Shakespeare. He continued his artistic exploration amid the thriving theater and teaching artist community in New York.

A former company member with the Brooklyn based, site-specific theater company, Brave New World Rep, he has worked extensively in New York and regionally in the Midwest. Being a former competitive athlete, much of his approach to his artistic work is grounded in his exploration of a story's physicality. Whether through stage combat, dance, gesture or stylized movement, he has a commitment and enthusiasm to creating a physical narrative that supplements and highlights the writer's text.

Our conversation focuses on Ren’s approach to acting and directing, how growing up in the Black church helped to influence his understanding of creativity, and what he terms “the walk of faith and courage” required to follow the creative path with authenticity. Ren is currently performing with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in a production of Amen Corner by James Baldwin, followed by a production of Julius Cesar.

For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to consider how creativity lives in your body, in your gestures, your voice, your eyes, and your interactions with other others, and how you use that creativity to connect and communicate.

Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate logo design by Dreux Carpenter.

If you enjoy this episode and want to learn more about the creative process, you might also like our conversations in Episode 3: Creative Polymathy with Musician and Multi-Creative Michael Walker, Episode 5: Creative Global Citizenship with Screenwriter and Filmmaker Shuja Uddin, and Episode 8: Grief, Healing, and the Artist’s Life with Anne Myers Cleary.

Episode-specific hyperlinks:

Ren’s Linked-In Profile
Play: The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Play: Master Harold and the Boys by Athol Fugard

Play: Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

The Delacorte Theater / Shakespeare in the Park

Play / Book: Elijah Broke the Gate

Book: The Courage to Create by Rollo May

Play: Amen Corner by James Baldwin