Dramatist, performer, director, filmmaker and teaching artist with a practice spanning theater, independent cinema, solo performance, criticism and arts education. Classically trained as an actor, Kangalee’s work brings together actor-centered performance, political and experimental theater, Black dramatic literature and the traditions of the theatrical avant-garde. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Kangalee Arts Ensemble.
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ARTISTIC PRACTICE
Writer / Author / Dramatist (selected list)
The Harm — play; premiered in New York City, 2026
My Dying City Vol. II (The Social Justice Suicide Hour) — play; premiered in New York City, 2026
SMILE: A Clown’s Ascension — stage adaptation of Henry Miller’s The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder; commissioned by the Henry Miller Memorial Library, 2025
The Life & Death of Art — play; premiered at JACK, Brooklyn, 2024
Staff Writer, Wavelengths — film criticism for the Luminal Theater, 2022–2025
Contributor, Fever Spores: The Queer Reclamation of William S. Burroughs — essay, 2022
Co-author, “Art, Trauma, Healing & the Power of Protest Art,” Journal of Humanistic Psychology — 2021
Gentrified Minds — solo performance work; Downtown Urban Theater Festival, 2011
As an Act of Protest — feature film; writer/director/performer, 2001
Goin’ a Buffalo — screen adaptation co-written with Ed Bullins, 1999
Stage Director
Kangalee Arts Ensemble — Artistic Director 2022–2026
Selected directing credits:
• The Harm — Midtown International Theatre Festival, New York City, 2026
• My Dying City Vol. II (The Social Justice Suicide Hour) — American Theatre of Actors, New York City, 2026
• The Life & Death of Art — JACK, Brooklyn, 2024
• Rockaby — Carl Cherry Center for the Arts / Henry Miller Memorial Library, California, 2025
• The Tragedy of Hamlet — University Settlement, New York City, 2023
KunstHaus Players (Berlin) — Director 2005–2007
Wallace Shawn’s The Fever
Brecht’s In the Jungle of Cities
Dionysus 2000 Theatre Lab — Founder & Director 1997–1999
A repertory company reinterpreting African American classics and European political theater including revivals of
The Maids (Producers Club) – 2002
Blues for Mister Charlie (National Black Theater) – 1999
The Toilet (Independent Art HERE) – 1998
Dutchman (Independent Art HERE) – 1997
China Doll (Ohio Theater) – 1997
PERFORMER — SELECTED CREDITS
The Harm — Angelo; Midtown International Theatre Festival, New York City, 2026
SMILE: A Clown’s Ascension — Auguste; Carl Cherry Center for the Arts / Henry Miller Memorial Library, California, 2025
The Life & Death of Art — Luca; JACK, Brooklyn, 2024
Krapp’s Last Tape — Krapp; Studio 111, Brooklyn / Carl Cherry Center for the Arts / Henry Miller Memorial Library, 2022–2025
Gentrified Minds — The Nomad Junkie; Downtown Urban Theater Festival, New York City, 2011
The Maids — Solange; New York City, 2002
As an Act of Protest — Abner (Co-lead); feature film, 2001
Blues for Mister Charlie — Richard; National Black Theatre, New York City, 1999
Filmmaker & Curator
As an Act of Protest — Writer / Director / Performer; feature film, 2001
Goin' a Buffalo — Screen adaptation co-written with Ed Bullins, 1999
Visual Liberation — Creator / Curator; film and protest series
Wavelengths, Luminal Theater — Film critic, 2022–2025
Curatorial work has focused on Black, Third World, independent and politically engaged cinema.
TEACHING & EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Studio 353, New York City — Teaching Artist
Writing for the Stage & Screen
January 2026–Present
Kangalee Arts Ensemble, Brooklyn — Founder & Lead Teaching Artist
2022–Present
The People’s Forum — Teaching Artist
Visual Liberation: Film & Protest Pedagogy
2019
Princeton University — Guest Artist / Lecturer
The Future Is Ferguson: Transgressive Drama & Cinema
2015
KunstHaus Tacheles, Berlin — Acting Instructor
Acting for Adults
2005–2006
National Black Theatre — Teaching Artist
Acting Workshops for Beginners
1999–2000
The Juilliard School — Seminar Instructor
Black American Theater History
1997
EDUCATION & TRAINING
The Juilliard School — Drama, 1994–1997
LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts — Drama, 1990–1994
Moscow Art Theatre, Russia — Roots of the Stanislavski System, intensive study, 1992
Sanford Meisner Theater — Acting, 1988–1990
SELECTED HONORS, FELLOWSHIPS & COMMISSIONS
Venturous Theater Fund — Artist Initiative Grant Recipient, 2025
Henry Miller Memorial Library — Commission to adapt The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder for the stage, 2025
The Action Lab — Artist-in-Action Fellow, 2024–2025
Princeton University — Guest Artist / Speaker, 2015