What happens when the past comes hurling into the present? In this profoundly moving piece, Ms. Hinrichs revisits moments from her youth as a minister’s child on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement in the South Side of Chicago. From witnessing the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, to dancing with Julie Andrews, to receiving an unexpected message of reconciliation, Ms. Hinrichs reveals how the events of the past have shaped her spirit and asks whether a random act of brutality can be transformed by a random act of courage and grace.
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Renata Hinrichs as herself
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Stage Manager | Meghan Spear
Lighting Design | Dan Jones
Projections Design | Joe Engler
Sound Design | Yezminne Zepeda
Movement Consultant | Edisa Weeks
Carpenter | Santiago Sepeda
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RENATA HINRICHS (Playwright/Actress)
Ms. Hinrichs’ first play, A Witness in My House, based on the story of a woman in the Netherlands during the Holocaust, was invited to go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the play was also produced at the Hudson Guild Theater in New York. Random Acts is her second play and the inspiration for the piece began while she was living in a studio apartment on West 16th Street in New York City during the 9/11 terrorists attacks and memories from her childhood started to surface. As more memories flowed back into her consciousness, she interviewed her parents to fill in more detail. Those memories ended up in this solo play and tell the story of what happened to her and her family growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s. Previous productions of the play include: Emerging Artists Theater New Work Festival, FAB women of the Barrow Group and most recently at Theater Row for the United Solo Theater Festival in October and November of 2014. She has been invited by the Hewitt School to perform the play as part of their diversity program. Random Acts received the Best Storytelling Script Award from the United Solo Festival and it is published by Indie Theater Now.
Ms. Hinrichs, trained as an actor at the T.Schreiber Studio and The Barrow Group School with Seth Barrish and Lee Brock. Other acting teachers include Bob Krakower, Tim Phillips, and Tony Spiridakis. She studied writing and playwriting with Lisa Kron, Roderick Menzies, Maia Danziger, and Seth Barrish. She is a founding member of BIG DANCE THEATER, co-directed by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, having performed in New York, London, and the Georgian Republic, as well as at The American Dance Festival and The Yard, winning an OBIE award for best ensemble performance for A Simple Heart.
She is currently a member of FAB Women of the Barrow Group, where she first performed and developed Random Acts. Other acting credits include the lead role in the short film, Happy Now, which won first prize at both the Cannes Film Festival and the Deauville Film Festival. Theater credits: Dorsett Theater Festival, Boise Contemporary Theater, The Barrow Group, EST, Soho Rep, Ohio Theater. TV: DeadBeat, The Blacklist Find out more at renatahinrichs.com
