Jarrett King

About

Jarrett King (he/him) is an actor, writer, and educator based in Chicago, Illinois. He has held a variety of administrative and educational positions with several Chicago organizations, including Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Silk Road Rising, Vagabond School of the Arts, Auditorium Theater, Hearts to Art, Unsilence, Bravo Performing Arts Academy, Chicago Public Schools, and American Theater Company, where he oversaw the in-school residency program American Mosaic. As a teacher, he has engaged over 1000 students and older adults from ages 4 to 102, and has taught workshops to a wide range of organizations, including WITS Chicago, Communities In Schools, YMCA of Austin, and St. Edward’s University. Throughout 2020 and 2021 he directed Black Teen Lives Matter, a four-part virtual showcase of plays written by Black teens, and in the fall of 2021 he served as interim Director of Education at Silk Road Rising. Previously, Jarrett lived, worked, and performed in Austin, Texas, where served as a board member at Salvage Vanguard Theatre, founded the arts collective Viceroys, and received his teaching certification (Theater Arts EC-12). He is the Associate Artistic Director of the Austin-based Penfold Theatre Company, where his play A War of the Worlds, a metatheatrical reimagining of Orson Welles’ infamous radio broadcast with an all-Black cast, will premiere in 2022. As a performer, Jarrett most recently appeared in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and he has nearly two decade’s worth of credits performing in professional theaters and in film and television. His new play exploring the life of Henry Box Brown is currently in development. Learn more at iamjarrettking.com.

Degrees

BA, Theatre Arts - Performance, St. Edward's University

Courses Taught

THTR 100