Home | rdwakeman

Playwright and collaborative artist

Playwright

Originally from England, RD Wakeman spends time in Detroit and Los Angeles, frequently driving between the two, embracing the myth of the American road trip and finding inspiration in it. The freedom of the road contrasts with the absurdity of life's restrictions, especially those self-imposed. This theme winds its way through the work as a collaborative artist and playwright. RD has written over thirty plays so far ...

BA (Theatre), MA (Literature)

UPCOMING - Blight, a full length play. will receive a staged reading at the Michigan Playwrights Festival, Theatre Nova, Ann Arbor, MI, USA on Sunday 27th October 2019 at 2pm.

Performances/Staged Readings:

Free Refills (2015, Civic Theater Festival, Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Cut (2012, Cockpit Theatre, London UK)
Sea Change (2010, Empire Theatre, Santa Ana, CA, USA)
Going Nowhere (2010, Heartland Theatre, IL, USA)
Locked (2008, Diversify Festival, UEA Studio Theatre, UK)
Last Visit (2005, New Voices Rising, WCC, MI, USA)

Contests:

Abandoned (2011, Panndora's Box New Play Festival honorable mention)
Sea Change (2010, Panndora's Box New Play Festival winner)
Going Nowhere (2010, Heartland Theatre Festival winner)
Vegas Wedding (2006, Alfred P. Kernodle Contest finalist)
Blight (2004, Riva Shiner Contest semi-finalist)
Last Visit (2002, Nancy Weil New Play Search finalist)

Published:

Men in White Coats II (Bodies of Work Journal, AHRC)
Tonight... (Fiction in a Nutshell, Acorn Newspaper, CA)
Monologue for Two (Concrete Newspaper, UEA)

Bio

Art Collaborations

(with Kathryn Wakeman, artist)

Chronicle Live article about the artists

PREVIOUS SHOWS:

15th Jun to 5th Jul 2019

Gestalt 6 - BG Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

'Moon Reach'

24th to 27th Jan 2019

Gestalt Project - Circular Cluster (Group show) - BG Gallery booth at LA Art show, Los Angeles Convention Center

stone glass window, a circular work from our new collection Stone Sea Stars

Convergencies - 2018 - The Exchange, North Shields

A collaboration of word and image to explore aspects of hierarchy and synchronicity.

Gestalt 5 (Group Show) - 2018 - BG Gallery, Santa Monica, California

desert sand road - a red work included in a group show curated by colour.

Changes - 2018 - The People's Theatre, Newcastle

A Conversation surrounding Changes, in Circumstances, in Conditions, and any ensuing Crises. Images threaded with transparency or ribbon. A dialogic exchange of word and image.

CIrcumstances - 2017 - Gallery 45, Morpeth

In Circumstances, conditions are connected to situations. Images and words collude. A tissue of words lies over an image, an image underlies a tissue of words. Beside, inside, around, surround.

Sideview of CIrcumstances installation with ribbon

CrIses - 2017 - System Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Crises of clarity & direction at the crossroads of word & image. Drawn and typed transparency converge. Sketch and stamped ribbon coalesce.

CondItIons - 2017 - Circus Art, Edinburgh

Conditions of synchronicity, spontaneity & symbolism subsist.

Investigating hierarchy in word and image. Drawings with a transparency of words. (Image & typed acetate.)

Circus, Circus - 2016 - Circus Cafe, Edinburgh

Chaos and uncertainty colliding in circus. Drawings ticketed with an admission of word/thought. (Image and ticket)

Salon Theatre - 2011 - C. Alevroyianni Assoc.s, Newcastle

Theatre and Art share the stage. Four long paintings inside four short plays. (Sheet paintings and staged readings)

Conversations - 2010 - University of Northumbria

Conversation with self, another, the Other. (Image and words, side by side)

Moths - 2005 - Jedbrugh Art Centre, Scottish Borders

Words, like moths, flutter towards the light. Gathering nectar or eating away at the fabric of existence. (Mixed media)

Postcard profiles - 2002 - Horticultural Halls, London

A postcard can say a thousand words. A thousand postcards can make one image. (Art from postcards)

Art Collaboration