keith arthur bolden

Keith Arthur Bolden has the best of both worlds. He'due south a critically-acclaimed actor and a decorated director. Simply his favorite role is that of banana professor of theater and performance at Spelman College where he loves tapping into the potential of students and sharing his passion for the craft.

"I apply my life experiences as didactics tools in the classroom –- the mistakes I've fabricated I share all those things," says Bolden.

Nothing pleases Bolden more than seeing the progress of students from the time they enter the program to when they graduate. He says they may come in timid and unsure of themselves, but after gaining exposure and experience, their interim improves and some students -- like Alexis Woodard, C'2020 --  move on to directing. Woodard successfully directed Spelman's 2019 contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare'southward "Romeo + Juliet."

Atlanta Academy Center Students Benefit From Real-World Actors

When Bolden first arrived at Spelman six years ago, students were taking interim classes in any sequence they wanted. He changed that by requiring them to have his classes in sequence. This was a significant shift, he said "so we're all speaking the same language."

Students at Spelman and Morehouse who have his classes besides do good from his existent-world connections. Some of his colleagues have visited his classes to speak to students every bit a favor to him including actress Danai Gurira of "The Walking Dead" and "Black Panther," and Jason Dirden, who plays the character Basie Skanks on the pop telly show "Greenleaf."

A Career That Screams Success

Bolden has a long listing of theater and film credits. Well-nigh recently, he had guest roles in "Greenleaf," "Existence Mary Jane," and "Underground," likewise equally a guest spot in the current BET series "American Soul."

Bolden is the director of Spelman's production of "HANDS UP," a play about the Black Lives Affair movement and police harassment of people of color. "Our product of Hands UP has been selected for functioning at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region Four with an opportunity to present at the Kennedy Centre in April."

Bolden is likewise currently codirecting "Pipeline" with his wife, Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, at the Horizon Theater in Atlanta and directing a production of "Two Trains Running"  at the Triad Stage in Greensboro, Northward.C. that runs from March x-31.

The couple juggle their work with an equally busy dwelling house life. They take two boys, ages six and 2, and Bolden has a 23-year-former son from a previous relationship. "And I take a bunch of children at Spelman and Morehouse that I mentor," he says with a chuckle.

"I don't sleep a lot. My kids are dedicated. I think I motivate them by always being present. I don't have an excuse to not be there. Spelman is really important to me," he says.

Bolden is proud that 2 projects he appeared in recently accept been nominated for NAACP Epitome Awards. He played civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy in the film "Behind the Movement," which tells the story of Rosa Parks and "The Bobby Brown Story," where he played 1 of the doctors taking intendance of Bobbi Kristina Brown.

Working at Spelman, he said, "It keeps me grounded. Information technology gives me a abode base. A lot of actors don't accept that foundation to come back to. I was a nomad for a very long time. This is my offset tenure track position where the college is supporting me and my endeavors. I'grand on committees, people know me on campus. They respect what I practise and what I bring to the campus. A lot of actors don't have that."

This spring, Bolden volition directly August Wilson's work "The Piano Lesson," which will run from April xix-21 at Spelman in the Baldwin Burroughs Theatre.

Source: https://www.spelman.edu/about-us/news-and-events/our-stories/stories/2019/03/04/professor-keith-arthur-bolden-excels-on-stage-and-in-the-classroom

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