REGINALD T. JACKSON BIO:
General:
My name is Reginald T. Jackson and I graduated from City College of New York with a B.A. Theatre and B.A. Music. Both earned in June of 1986. In 1988 I started the nation’s first Black Gay Theater in New York City, N.Y. called: RAINBOW REPERTORY THEATRE. It is still alive to this day. My major vision was to create a body of work by. For. And about LGBTQ+POC. We presented four mainstage productions a year; and I usually wrote at least two per year. In 1990 I served as the Education Director for the Foundation of the Dramatist’s Guild Young Playwrights Festival. While being Education Director I created the only playwriting curriculum accepted by the New York State Regents Board: WRITING ON YOUR FEET!. I ran a playwriting staff that taught my curriculum throughout the New York City school system. In 1991 and 1992 I also designed and implemented a Summer Teacher Training Program for 50 New York City Teachers. Over a two week period, me and my staff taught them WRITING ON YOUR FEET! So they could take their skills back to their schools to teach playwriting to their students. I provided individual teacher training and evaluation through the school year both years. In 1992 I received a New York City Mayor’s Citation and an Arts and Cultural Foundation Award for my work in Arts-In-Education — teaching creative writing throughout the New York City School System. In 1990 through 1994 I served on the New York State Council of the Arts evaluating and funding Arts & Education programs around the state of New York.
FILM:
He completed both the DCTV Video Production Program and the THIRD WORLD NEWSREEL Film Program.. His short film HOOD LIFE : 101 was selected by the 2012 San Diego Black Film Festival, International Black Film Festival of Nashville, 2012 Black Harvest Film Festival and 2012 Hollywood Black Film Festival. His short film SOUL MATES was selected by the 2013 Black Harvest Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, The St. Louis Black Film Festival, The international Black Film Festival at Nashville and the Hollywood Black Film Festival. His short film FIRST BASE was selected by 2014 Black Harvest Film Festival, St. Louis Black Film Festival, The International Black Film Festival of Nashville, and will screen this month at the San Diego Black Film Festival. He is also the winner of the 2013 Screenplay award at the Harlem International Film Festival for his Tupac Shakur Feature: THE ROSE THAT GREW FROM CONCRETE.
LITERARY:
Reginald T. Jackson is a founding member of the OTHER COUNTRIES: Black Gay Men Writing Collective. He was the poetry editor for their second anthology SOJOURNER: Black Gay Men Respond To AIDS, and was co-editing their new anthology OTHER COUNTRIES: Voices Rising. His books, HEJIRA: From Cradle To Grave, and STICKS AND STONES, were both nominated for the Lambda Literary Foundation’s Poetry Awards in 2008 & 2009 respectively. His other literary works have appeared in the anthology Brother To Brother, edited by Essex Hemphill on Alyson Publications, the anthology Flesh and The Word 2, edited by John Preston on Plume Books, BlackOut Magazine edited by Angela Bowen on Boston Towne Press, the anthology Sojourner edited and published by OTHER COUNTRIES, BGM Magazine edited by Sidney Brinkley on Blacklight Press, OUTWEEK Magazine edited by Sarah Pettit, American Writing Magazine. He was a contributing writer for both CLICK Magazine and FLAVALIFE Magazine. He has works coming out in the anthologies: Fish, Collard Greens and Cornbread, Black Gay Erotica and Black Gay Genius all in 2012.
THEATRE:
In 1994 I was named a National Shakespeare Pioneer by the New York Shakespeare Festival of the Joseph Papp Public Theater for my play: HOUSE OF LEAR a re-imaging of KING LEAR as a Black, Gay, Drag Queen Dying of AIDS in the 1980’s. My play “ STRAIGHT BOYS” was named the best gay play of the decade by the New York City Gay Cable Network in 1993. In 1997 I was commissioned to write and direct a musical on the life of Aretha Franklin, “ARETHA: Queen of Soul” by the St. Pauli Theater of Hamburg Germany, and after I returned home I was commissioned to write a musical based on 70’s R&B group, The Emotions,called BIGGER THAN BUBBLE GUM, for Lincoln Center. My play, LOVESICKNESS has been used as a teaching tool at NYU and I have guest lectured there to explain the origin of the play.. My play HOUSE OF LEAR has been used as a teaching tool at PACE University. I have guest lectured at BROWN, ANTIOCH, and STONEYBROOK – explaining by technique used to create HOUSE OF LEAR. ARETHA: Queen Of Soul made it’s American debut in the Fall 2022 in Gainesville, Florida at the Star Center Theatre. My play DEE’S DILEMNA was produced inHouston, TX by the FADE TO BLACK FESTIVAL in June 2024. His plays BLACK IN THE FIRST DEGREE AND KINDRED SPIRITS were both given a staged reading by Tiger’s Heart Players December 2024. His play BLACK IN THE FIRST DEGREE will be produced Off-Broadway by the Downtown Urban Arts Festival June 2025. DEE’s DILEMNA will be produced in Houston Texas this June 2025. UNTIL DEATH DO US PART! Was given a staged reading at the Tiger’s Heart Players February 2025.
