Ron Himes is the Performing Arts Department Henry E. Hampton, Jr. Artist in Residence
The Theatre Practitioner Award recognizes a living individual—artist or administrator, institutionally affiliated or unaffiliated—whose work in the American theatre has evidenced exemplary achievement over time and who has contributed significantly to the development of the larger field. This year, TCG honored two St. Louis based
practitioners, whose dedication to the field locally and nationally has inspired and activated countless artists,
administrators, educators and audience members.
Ron Himes is an award-winning director who has been directing over 41 years. He is the founder and producing
director of The Black Rep and the Henry E. Hampton, Jr. Artist-in-Residence at Washington University in St.
Louis. He has produced and directed more than 200 plays at The Black Rep, including all ten plays written by
August Wilson. His Black Rep directing credits include: Dot, Lines In The Dust, Twisted Melodies, Sunset Baby,
Purlie, Black Nativity: A Holiday Celebration, the critically acclaimed productions of Ruined and The Montford
Point Marine. Himes also created and directed the highly acclaimed, Crossin ’ Over and Tell Me Somethin’ Good.
He has directed a number of world premieres including Torn Asunder, Smash/Hit!, Insidious, Home the Musical,
Servant of the People, Riffs, and Urban Transitions: Loose Blossoms. Directing credits from theatres across the
country include Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Fences (The Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville); The Colored Museum
and Blues for an Alabama Sky (Indiana Repertory Theatre); Flyin’ West (Delaware Theatre Company); For
Colored Girls.........(People’s Light and Theatre Company in Philadelphia); Riffs (Seven Stages in Atlanta);
Spunk, Spell #7, and Radio Golf (Studio Theatre in Washington, DC); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and I’m
Not Rappaport (Old Creamery Theatre in Garrison, IA); and An Enemy of the People (Perseverance Theatre in
Juneau, AK). In 2010 he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the third World Festival of Black Arts and
Cultures in Dakar, Senegal and he has received numerous honors and awards, including the 2013 Outstanding
Organization of The Year Award from 100 Black Men and The Citizen of The Year Award from the Gateway
Classic Foundation, 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award from University College at Washington University, St.
Louis 2004 Heroes Pierre Laclede Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, The Arts & Education Council in 2001;
Creative Artist Award, The Better Family Life in 1997; Woodie Award for Outstanding Direction, the St. Louis
Black Repertory Company’; and Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in
1993, and from Washington University in 1997 and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Life and Legacy Award from
the National Pan-Hellenic Alumni Council.
For over 55 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for U.S. theatre, has
existed to strengthen, nurture, and promote the professional not-for-profit theatre. TCG’s constituency has
grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 700 Member Theatres and affiliate organizations and
more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building
opportunities through conferences, events, research, and communications; awards grants, approximately $2
million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the
Global Theater Initiative, TCG's partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as
the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America’s largest independent publisher of
dramatic literature, with 16 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning
American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its
endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its Member Theatres, cultivate and celebrate
the artistic talent and achievements of the field, and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation
for, the theatre. www.tcg.org
