DAVID RAINEY

DAVID RAINEY is the founder of Studio for Actors Houston, which was born out of his 20 years’ experience as an acting coach and teacher.  As a performer, he has been an Alley Theatre Resident Company Member since 2000, where he has performed in over 80 productions in 24 years, including many versions of A Christmas Carol, Noises Off, And Then There Were None, The Emporium, The Nerd, Little Comedies, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Servant of Two Masters, Skeleton Crew, Pillowman, Eurydice, Othello and Of Mice and Men. Nationally, he has performed for Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage Company, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the National Actors Theatre, the Guthrie Theatre, Joseph Papp Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Acting Company, New York Shakespeare Festival, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Ford’s Theatre, Delaware’s Resident Ensemble Players, Asolo Theatre Company, Dallas Theatre Center, Shakespeare Festival LA, Crossroads Theatre Company, Houston Shakespeare Festival, A.D, Players, Stark Naked Theatre Company, Houston Grand Opera, among others.  In 2004 he was named “Best Actor” by the Houston Press for the role of Lincoln in Top Dog/Underdog at the Alley Theatre, and also received “Best Actor” nominations from Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson (JEFF) Awards and the Black Theatre Alliance Awards for the same production at Steppenwolf Theatre Company.  And in 2017 he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor as Falstaff in HSF’s “Henry IV, Pt. 1”.  His film and television credits include Law & Order, Cosby, Vengeance Unlimited, As the World Turns, One Life to Live, Hell Swarm, Starforce, Lowball, Multifacial, The 'M' Word, North Starr, Brushing Death and Don’t Go There. 

 

He was the founder and Artistic Director of The Landing Theatre Company, which produced mostly new works over 11 seasons (2010-2021) and was nationally recognized for its New American Voices Playwrighting Festival.  He has directed Wanda, Daisy and the Great Rapture (The Landing), Tea and Sympathy (Back Porch Player), Smudge (The Landing); Our House (Black Lab Theatre); Suzan-Lori Parks’ In The Blood (Back Porch Player); The Glass Menagerie (The Landing); Othello (Juggernaut Theatre Company/NY); and Boys Life (Blue Moon Productions/NY).  In 2012 he was nominated for Best Director by the Houston Theater Awards, for Theresa Rebek’s “Our House” for Black Lab Players, and his production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ “In the Blood”, for Back Porch Players, was also nominated for “Best Play/Production”.  That year he was also named one of Houston’s 100 Top Creative’s. 

 

He trained at The Juilliard School, and at graduation was awarded the Drama Division’s highest honor, the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize.  As a firm believer in training, he has taught at most universities in Houston and presented workshops at many area schools.  He created Studio for Actors Houston with a desire to provide more professional training opportunities for artists in Houston.