Interview: Theatre Life with Jefferson A. Russell
The extremely talented and versatile performer on why his current project Shakespeare's As You Like It at Folger Theatre is as timely as ever and more.
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Today’s subject Jefferson A. Russell is currently living the theatre life onstage at Folger Theatre playing the roles of Duke Senior and Duke Frederick in their current production of As You Like It. The production runs through April 19th.
Jefferson is one of the most versatile actors in the DMV. The range of shows he has played in over the years is staggering to be sure. As a Resident Company Member of Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre, Jefferson has appeared in a wide variety of plays. Select credits include The Piano Lesson, Primary Trust, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Jump, The Lion in Winter, Sense and Sensibility, The Skin of Our Teeth, Flyin’ West, Pipeline, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, Aubergine, The Soul Collector, and Gem of the Ocean.
DC Theatre credits include Fences and Ragtime at Ford’s Theatre, Father Comes Home From The Wars, Two Trains Running, and Fetch Clay, Make Man at Round House Theatre, and Clybourne Park at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
Jefferson has also worked regionally in productions at Cincinnati Playhouse and Milwaukee Rep.
Besides being a killer performer, while performing for a time, Jefferson was also a member of the Baltimore Police Department. Read on to see what that double life was like?
Folger Theatre is always reinventing the works of Shakespeare for new audiences. Please consider grabbing some tickets to their latest reimagining of As You Like It. The fact that a superb actor like Jefferson A. Russell is gracing Folger’s stage should be more than enough reason for you to attend. This play is definitely the thing!
Jefferson A. Russell is truly living his theatre life to the fullest.
How did you get interested in performing
I was a very shy young person and our parents (I'm the youngest of 4) made certain that we were exposed to all kinds of culture and Arts, taking us to see shows at the now-long gone Morris Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore among other venues. There I saw the 1st national tour of The Wiz and seeing the players in their street clothes at a post-show reception after witnessing their amazing performances made me think of them as superheroes, now in their secret identities. (I was a comic book collector for years, starting as a boy.) It really sparked something that allowed me to imagine that as an actor I could be another person and still be me. Soon after, my mother in her wisdom, put me in the Youtheatre program for a summer session at Arena Players in Baltimore, the nation's oldest continuously operating African American community theatre, founded in 1953 by Samuel H. Wilson, Jr and an incredible group of All Stars determined to make their Art at a time when Black folks were barred from other area theatres, because America.
Also, I had seen the original The Bad News Bears movie and watching those kids playing baseball, another love of mine at the time, I thought I could do that too. And my Mom signed me up for acting classes through Children's Theatre Association in Baltimore.
Where did you receive your training?
My parents, Bruce Sr and Alice Russell, had me take piano lessons and drum lessons early on. But my real exposure to Theatre, and in particular Black Theatre, came as a student at Hampton University where I was a part of the Hampton Players under then department chair Dr. Alex C. Marshall, who very recently passed away. And though my major was Sociology/Criminal Justice, I spent much of my time in and around the theatre and forged connections and influences that have stayed with me.
After college, I went back to Arena Players and in short order connected with my lifelong mentors Donald Russell Owens and Amini Courts, both of whom saw something in me. And through their guidance and support I began to see that 'thing' also. I can't possibly overstate the influence, education, work ethic and love for theatre that has been instilled in me due to my connection to the institution and artists that make up Arena Players.
I am forever indebted as most of my training has been on the job by learning from and working with veteran All Stars of Washington Theatre and beyond, such as Doug Brown, Fred Strother, Jennifer L. Nelson, Keith Johnson, Jewel Robinson, David Emerson Toney, Timothy Douglas and so many others whom I've learned from and have helped guide me through the ebb and flow of my artistic and cultural development.
Beyond that, after working for several years professionally as an actor, I knew I wanted and needed additional training and had been inspired by my dear friend Dawn Ursula who enrolled in Shakespeare Theatre and George Washington University's Academy of Classical Acting (ACA). I followed suit a few years later in 2012 and obtained my MFA.
at the 1997 National Black Theatre Festival.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
What was your first professional job as a performer?
A very early paid gig for me was as Gabe in August Wilson's Fences directed by Donald Russell Owens (my very first August Wilson play) for Bev Scott's Encore Dinner Theatre in Baltimore in Fall 1992 shortly after I left the police department. (It was more an honorarium but that didn't matter.)
My very first gig in DC and one that really forged my professional path was with Young Playwrights Theatre in 1997(?), founded by now renowned playwright Karen Zacarias. It was there I met another of my lifelong mentors, the esteemed Playwright/Director/Actor/Educator Jennifer L. Nelson, who at the time was Producing Artistic Director of African Continuum Theatre Company (ACTCo) and helping Karen Z with YPT. Throughout the years, Jennifer has fostered and provided artistic opportunities to me and so many of my now closest friends and collaborators; opportunities that the established Washington DC Theatre scene was not providing in a substantial way to many Black Artists.
It was through my association with Jennifer that inspired me and a few of my friends and closest collaborators (among them founding members Dawn Ursula, Erika Rose, JJ Johnson, Paige Hernandez, Thembi Duncan, and Dionne Audain) in 2005 to start Galvanize, a network for Artists of Color, which has helped shift the cultural landscape of DC Theatre and beyond by shining a light on the indelible contributions of Artists of Color in our community; 21 years ago!
and, Raven Lorraine in the Folger Theatre production of As You Like It.
Photo by Brittany Diliberto.
Can you please talk about the production concept for Folger Theatre’s current production of As You Like It, and also something about the characters you play?
This production is a welcome respite to currently Occupied Washington DC. Karen Ann Daniels has conceptualized this beautiful love letter to the spirit of resilience that embodies true DC; not the transient, ever-changing with new administrations DC. But the DC that has always existed, no matter the political regime holding the reins of power; emphasizing that its the people that make up the soul of this city.
Our production highlights the vibrancy of its Arts scene juxtaposed to the rigidity of its political scene and the interesting intersection that occurs when they inevitably rub up against each other.
Our director Timothy Douglas has helmed this journey with such aplomb and grace, honoring Karen Ann's vision. And our design team have created an astounding world in which we players and audiences get to play.
Regarding the characters I inhabit, it's always an interesting journey to play multiple characters in a play. Duke Frederick, a thin-skinned, petty, insecure, petulant authoritarian, is constantly seeking more power. Whereas his dethroned, banished brother, is a much more benevolent, genteel populist, making the best of his banishment in Arden. Inhabiting the two and finding the distinctions between them is always fun to play with.
Also, it's very interesting to be able to do this play, our version, during this particular time, under this current political climate in Occupied DC and in the shadow of the Capitol building. It ain't curing cancer, but it's saying something; especially with a majority Black (but mixed) cast in a town where a mixed company appearing onstage was illegal not very long ago in our country's history. By simply showing up, Black people are political, intentional or not.
You have had the chance to also perform in plays written by August Wilson. Some would say that he was a modern-day Shakespeare. Do you see any similarities between the two playwrights?
I do, though, obviously, they both have their own distinct qualities. What I enjoy about both is the language of their storytelling and the relationships, both personal and with greater society, that exist in their worlds.
Holding a photo from his Baltiomore Police Acadeny Graduation in 1989
while doing publicity for the 2008 Everyman Theatre production of
Gem Of The Ocean.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
You were a member of the Baltimore Police Department before becoming a performer (if I’m not mistaken). How does one go from being a member of law enforcement to becoming an actor?
I come from community theatre. While a Baltimore Police Officer I was performing in shows at Arena Players. For two years I volunteered and worked permanent midnight shift when it was first introduced in the Eastern District, where I was assigned, in order to rehearse and perform in the evenings. Then I'd usually go straight to roll call for my shift. After 4 years I left the police department and worked as a juvenile caseworker/probation officer for the state of Maryland for another 4 years, all the while continuing my theatre journey with Arena Players and other Baltimore community theatres.
After a while, I knew I needed to pursue this inevitable pull that guided me further toward my Art.
production of As You Like It.
Photo by Brittany Diliberto.
Why do you think the plays of William Shakespeare still resonate with audiences hundreds of years after they were first written?
He speaks to the whole of our human condition; the joy and pain of our existence, with all the beauty of life and living that resides in between. We're able to learn of our past and present selves and hopefully of our future selves; our power, our frailty, our humanity. (Of course we don't always heed those lessons though, do we?)
After As You Like It closes, what is next for you workwise? (I really thought there would be a question about being Everyman and being a resident company member, but this could be a great opportunity to add that here!)
Most immediately after AYLI, I head back to Everyman Theatre in Baltimore where I'm a resident company member for Jane Austen's Emma adapted by Kate Hamill.
Special thanks to Folger Theatre's Senior Communications Manager Colleen Kennedy for her assistance in coordinating this interview.
Theatre Life logo designed by Kevin Laughon.
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