Vanessa R Butler

“Butler is a revelation…She’s a beguiling presence, conveying a razor-sharp intellect, cool charm and deeply felt optimism…” HARTFORD COURANT – Jimmy & Lorraine Review

“…Her performance is intense and gripping and her relationships with each of the characters are genuine and beautifully nuanced.” PILLOW TALKING THEATER – Queens For A Year Review

About Me

I am visual and performative storyteller devoted to exploring what it means to be human. I believe in Universal Humanity and that storytelling is a means to that end. Stories are meant to connect us.

I work to share unheard narratives, bring light to the darker sides of ourselves and explore the spectrum of human vulnerability. There’s a reason vulnerability and weakness are not synonymous.

Recent News

Interview: The Republican Newspaper

‘Christmas Carol’ returns to Hartford Stage for 22nd season

A Cori Urban interview with Vanessa Butler, special to the Republican.

To read the full article click HERE

Awards

Vanessa R. Butler won the 27th Annual Connecticut Critics Circle Award, “Outstanding Actress—Play”for her lead role in “Queens for a Year” at Hartford Stage. The award is a celebration of the best in professional theater in the state of Connecticut.

For more about CCC Awards click HERE

Working with Students

Vanessa is currently a Professor for the Housatonic Community College Theater Department. She teaches Movement 1, Voice & Speech, Cultural Dance and Acting II.  

With my students at Housatonic I’ve been developing a methodology for creating non-verbal narratives and devised theater work. Based on my experience through dance, the deaf culture in my family, and intensive study of what past acting practitioners have developed to address the “talking-head” phenomenon, I strive to create work that asks: how little information does an audience need to understand a narrative? What kind of information is essential to that understanding?

Education in the News:

Youth Play Institute Students Write a Play About Gun Violence

The YPI play, “A Bullet’s Conscience,” is about two sisters grappling with the loss of their brother to gun violence. The sisters fall on opposite sides of the gun control debate. The students address the larger conversation happening in the U.S.

Read Full Article HERE

Let’s Work

Vanessa Butler is represented by ABOUT ARTISTS AGENCY

For information or requests for acting work, please contact: RENEE GLICKER – 212.581.1857 – aboutartists@gmail.com

For all other inquiries please contact me through the form below: