Preston Crowder ’16

(he/him, they/them)

  • Visiting Assistant Professor

Areas of Study

Biography

Born and raised in Nashville, TN, Preston Crowder (he/they) (Playwright) is a playwright-actor-director-songwriter with a passion for telling stories surrounding the vast experiences of being Black and Queer in the United States. Production history includes Don’t Look Black (Tennessee Playwrights Studio, 2022), Break Your Chains (Juilliard School, 2017), and Flames (University School of Nashville, 2016). Acting Credits include Is God Is (Scotch, The New School), Night Into Morning (Xavier, Short Film), Maidens (Figure 3, Tennessee Playwrights Studio), Sweat (Chris, Humanity Theater Project) and Clybourne Park (Kevin/Albert, Circle Players). Directing credits include Night Into Morning (Short Film) and Detroit ’67 (Assistant Director, Karamu House). Preston is a past fellow for the Tennessee Playwrights Studio and was named a semi-finalist for the 2022 Obsidian Theater Festival (Bocking). Preston holds a MFA degree from The New School of Drama and a BFA degree from Oberlin College, where they currently serve as a visiting Professor of Theater and Africana Studies. 

Spring 2023

Acting 1: Fundamentals — THEA 100
Individual or Group Projects — THEA 225
Playwrighting Workshop — THEA 265
The Evolution of Black Queer Performance and Storytelling: 1920's-Now — AAST 348

Fall 2023

I'm That Gworl: The Intersection of Black Women and Queerness in Hip-Hop — AAST 215
Screenwriting: Television — THEA 310