I don't play the guitar. Ssssh. Tell no one.
Kevin R. Free
(This bio is long. You may want to pop some popcorn before you read it.)
Kevin R. Free is a multidisciplinary artist whose work has been showcased many places, including Target Margin, the Where Project (2015), QED: A Place for Storytelling; on the Moth Mainstage (“Heart of Darkness,” 2012), Dana Rossi’s The Soundtrack Series, Kathleen Warnock’s Drunken! Careening! Writers!, Queens Farm, and most recently, The Historic Apollo Theatre.
As an actor, Kevin has appeared on television on “Blindspot,” “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU,” “Murphy Brown,” “Cyberchase,” and in several national and regional commercials. In 2018, he made his feature film debut in Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, and in 2025 he will be featured in the full-length Indie Film “Treasure of the Lost Reel.” He also appeared in web series, including Michael Cyril Creighton’s “Jack in the Box,” Eevin Hartsough’s “Wherever You Go,” and his own series co-written with Ms. Hartsough, “Gemma & The Bear.” New York audiences have seen Mr. Free Off-Broadway, playing the role of Bellomy in The Fantasticks (the first African-American to play the role in the New York Production's 54-year history). He created the role of Michael Curtiz in Reid & Sara Farrington’s Drama Desk-nominated CasablancaBox in 2017. Other notable NYC acting work: Night of the Living N-Word!! ; Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood (Flux Theatre Ensemble); The Making of King Kong (Target Margin); From My Hometown (Amas Musical Theatre; Audelco Award Nominee); Taking A Chance On Love (York Theatre); The Conjure Man Dies (New Federal Theatre) and as one of the ninjas in Happy Sunshine Kung Fu Flower at the Zipper. Some of his favorite roles in regional theatre include Guy in Blues For An Alabama Sky at the McCarter Theatre; Dr. Frans in the World Premiere Production of Jen Silverman’s WINK at Marin Theatre Company; Murray in the World Premiere Production of DAVE at Arena Stage; James Farmer in The Parchman Hour at the Guthrie Theater; Donnie in the World Premiere of Colman Domingo's DOT at Actors Theatre of Louisville; Albert/Kevin in Clybourne Park at Portland Center Stage; Tonton Julian in Once On This Island (Paper Mill Playhouse); Dromio of Ephesus in The Boys from Syracuse (CENTERSTAGE); Nemur in Chasing Nicolette (Prince Music Theatre); Flick in Violet (Arden Theatre, Barrymore Award Nominee - Best Supporting Actor in a Musical), and Belize in Angels in America (Charlotte Repertory).
His full-length plays are Face Value (Henry Street Settlement Playwright’s Project Grant, 2000; Mill Mountain Theatre New Play Festival Finalist, 2003); (Not) Just a Day Like Any Other (written & performed with Christopher Borg, Jeffrey Cranor, and Eevin Hartsough; recipient, 2009 NY IT Award for Outstanding Ensemble); and A Raisin in the Salad: Black Plays for White People (Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference Semi-Finalist 2013), The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, or TRIPLE CONSCIOUSNESS, and You Are in An Open Field (written & performed with Eevin Hartsough, Marta Rainer, Carl Riehl, and Adam Smith); Night of the Living N-Word!! (Overall Excellence in Playwriting, FringeNYC 2016); AM I DEAD? The Untrue Narrative of Anatomical Lewis, The Slave (Commission from Flux Theatre Ensemble); Swimming Uphill (written for André De Shields; supported by TOSOS; BOLD; En Garde Arts and workshopped in the New Works Lab at The Apollo Theatre) . His ten-minute plays include …in which Bishop Eddie Long loses a battle with his demons… (Sticky at the Bowery Poetry Club, JACK) and PORTAL, or Metaphorical Tricycle (The Fire This Time Festival), and Turn This Motha Out (with Prayer) (48 Hours in Harlem, inspired by Tyler Perry’s “Diary of a Mad Black Woman”). He is an alumnus of the New York Neo-Futurists, with whom he wrote and performed regularly in Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (30 Plays in 60 Minutes) between 2007 and 2011. His work has been published by Commonplace Books (“What it Means To Be A Grown Up: The Complete and Definitive Answer”) and at www.indietheaternow.com. In 2010, He was named one of NYTheatre.com’s 15 people of the year, because of his “outstanding, noteworthy contributions to the New York theatre scene.”
As a director, Kevin will begin rehearsal in May 2025 of the World Premiere Production of Donnetta Lavinia Grays’ Kudzu Calling (Alabama Shakespeare Festival). Favorites include: The Play That Goes Wrong at Portland Stage; Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet at Nevada Conservatory Theater; Pipeline at Mile Square Theatre (named one of the top 10 theatre productions of 2019 by NJ.com); the world premiere of Greg Lam’s The Last Ship to Proxima Centauri (Portland Stage) and the World Premiere of Amy R. Berryman’s WINNER, which was a Finalist in the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. Other significant credits: Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (with his constant collaborator, Tracey Conyer Lee) at Portland Stage; Renita Martin's Blue Fire on the Water (The Fresh Fruit Festival); Okello Kelo Sam’s Forged in Fire (City Tech); and with his frequent collaborator, Reynaldo Piniella on several of his plays: No History; Sons of an Unknown Father; Black and Blue; and Black Doves. As Artistic Director of Mile Square Theatre from 2022-2025, he directed Berta, Berta; The Burdens; and Tiny Beautiful Things.
Mr. Free has also directed several productions performed or written by young people, including several plays in Writopia Lab’s Bestival of New Plays, The Wiz, The Robber Bridegroom, Godspell, Barnum, The Big Bad Musical, Dear Edwina, A Year with Frog and Toad and Starlight Express.
Mr Free has also excelled as a producer and arts administrator. In 2018, he produced a borough-wide celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the original recording of Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World” in Queens Libraries. He is the former Education Director of Queens Theatre in the Park, bringing arts to underserved communities in Queens. He is also the former Producing Artistic Director of The Fire This Time Festival, a platform for early career playwrights of the African Diaspora, winning an Obie for his efforts in 2015. He maintains a collaboration with Frigid New York as curator of QUEERLY, a multi-arts LGBTQ+ festival. He has a long-standing collaboration with Eevin Hartsough and Katie Rosin, with whom he co-wrote and produced the web series Gemma & The Bear! and BECKYS THROUGH HISTORY (MyCarl.org). As Artistic Director of Mile Square Theatre, he produced the world premiere productions of Rachel Bublitz’s Funny, Like An Abortion; Adam Szymkowicz’s The Christmas Tree Farm; Gabriel Diego Hernandez’s Quarter Rican and Pia Wilson’s The Christmas Show Must Go On.
Once a regular contributor the NPR show “News & Notes,“ Mr. Free’s voice can be heard as Kevin from Desert Bluffs on the podcast “Welcome to Night Vale;” as Terry Elder in the Audio Drama “Give Me Away;” and as Mikey on the Audio Drama “Ask Your Father.”. He was a singer on the World Premiere Recording of the musical Avenue X and is the narrator of over 500 audio books, including Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries (Audie Award Finalist in Sci-Fi, 2025); Victor LaValle’s The Ballad of Black Tom; the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Known World (AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award, 2004); Richard Powers’ Playground (Audie Award Finalist, Audiobook of the Year, 2025) and Grant Overstoke’s The Education of TJ Crowley (Audie Award Winner, 2025). In 2023, he was honored with a Golden Voice award by AudioFile Magazine. And in 2024, he was honored to become the inaugural recipient of the Everett Quinton Award, given to him by The New York Innovative Theatre Awards for his “radical commitment to the ridiculous.”