Jerrell L. Henderson is a Theatre Director, Puppeteer, and African American Theatre Archivist. Through the mediums of theatre and/or puppetry and film, Jerrell seeks to disrupt generational curses of self-hate (i.e. racism, homophobia, religious intolerance, etc.). Intellectually curious and emotionally dexterous, Jerrell is at home in a number of wide-ranging genres including, but not limited to, American Realism, Magical Realism, Traditional and Contemporary Musical Theatre, Poetic Black-Queer Narratives, Site-Specific & Devised Productions, and Live Spectacle Events.
Recent directing projects include a co-production of James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize winning play Fat Ham with Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk, VA & Firehouse Theatre and Richmond Triangle Players in Richmond, VA, Blues for an Alabama Sky with Virginia Stage Company, Constellations with Penobscot Theatre in Bangor, ME, and The Prodigal Daughter with Raven Theatre in Chicago. Other directing credits include, Ragtime with Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, James Ijames’ Reverie with Azuka Theatre, Thurgood with Walnut Street Theatre (Studio 3), Marys Seacole and Mlima’s Tale (Jeff Award Nomination for Best Direction and Best Production) with Griffin Theatre, and Untitled (Barrymore Award Nomination for Best Direction) with Inis Nua Theatre.
A recipient of a 2023 Henson Foundation Workshop Grant and the 2022 League of Chicago Theatre’s Samuel G. Roberson Fellowship, Jerrell developed and staged an original large scale cinematic shadow play titled, AmericanMYTH: Crossroads with Free Street Theatre in Fall 2023. Other puppet related projects include co-directing both Little Amal Drifts Off to Sleep with Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival in Maggie Daley Park/Chicago and When The World Sounds Like A Prayer in Bryant Park/NYC with The Classical Theatre of Harlem and St. Ann’s Warehouse. (walkwithamal.org)
Puppet short films include a filmed version of his signature puppetry piece, I Am The Bear with The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Hamlin: La Revue Sombre with Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams and Diamond’s Dream with Chicago Children’s Theatre. His Juneteenth Puppet Protest: The Welcome Table was featured in the New York Times (June 2020) and his Fall 2020 puppetry celebration of the lives of John Lewis and C.T. Vivian titled; Black Butterfly was later expanded into an educational performance piece with Tria Smith of Guild Row and a student collective working with Urban Growers Collective on Chicago’s South Side.
As a director/puppeteer, Jerrell has contributed to Playwriting with Purpose: A Guide and Workbook for Playwrights – Revised and Expanded Second Edition by Jacqueline Goldfinger (Routledge Press). As an African American Theatre Archivist, he has contributed to Fifty Key Musicals (Routledge Press). He authored the chapter on Shuffle Along (1921) and co-authored the chapter on The Wiz (1975). He also serves as the creator and curator of black_theatre_vinyl_archive on Instagram. black_theatre_vinyl_archive is an extensive collection of vinyl albums which highlight the contributions of members of the African Diaspora in Theatre/Musical Theatre History. You can listen to him speak about albums from his collection on his podcast Celebrating Black Theatre – The Vinyl Archive with co-host Courtney Murry Geary, @blacktheaternerd (Spotify).
He received his MFA in Theatre Directing from Northwestern University (2015), is a member of Lincoln Center’s Directors Lab (2012), and was a Henson Foundation sponsored participant at the Eugene O’Neill National Puppetry Conference (2020, 2023). He is represented by the Gurman Agency (susan@gurmanagency.com).