About Me
About Randy
Randy Jackson-Alvarenga is an actor, playwright, educator, and storyteller whose work explores memory, identity, belonging, and the stories communities tell to survive.
At a Glance
MFA Candidate in Playwriting at the University of Iowa. BFA in Theatre from Texas Christian University. Graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Former professional actor in Tokyo, Japan, and the first foreign actor to join Bungakuza Theatre Company.
Artist Overview
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Randy grew up surrounded by stories that connected him to his African American and Salvadoran heritage. Those stories became part of how he understood family, history, and imagination, and ultimately led him to a life in the theatre.
Randy began his formal training at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where he studied playwriting and won the Horwitz Playwriting Competition, earning his first professionally produced staged reading.
He later received a BFA in Theatre from Texas Christian University, becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college.
His work is rooted in the belief that storytelling can connect the past to the present, create space for voices that have been overlooked, and invite audiences into deeper questions of identity, belonging, survival, and transformation.
International Work
Following graduation, Randy moved to Tokyo, Japan, where he worked professionally as an actor for nearly a decade. During that time, he became the first foreign actor to join Bungakuza Theatre Company, one of Japan’s oldest and most respected shingeki theatre companies.
His work with Bungakuza included numerous stage productions and tours throughout Japan. In addition to theatre, he also appeared in film, television, voiceover, and digital media projects.
Current Work
Playwright
Randy is currently an MFA Candidate in the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop, where he develops new work exploring cultural inheritance, family legacy, queerness, and the fantastical within everyday life.
Actor
Randy continues to perform across stage, screen, voiceover, and digital media, drawing from years of professional experience in the United States and Japan.
Educator
Randy teaches theatre, dramatic literature, and playwriting, helping emerging artists develop their voices, craft, and relationship to story.
Collaborator
His creative work spans traditional theatre, new play development, devised performance, immersive storytelling, and speculative forms.
Recent Projects
Randy’s recent projects include Tierra Olvidada, LARPlay, The Year Between, and A Thing for the Stage, a commissioned work developed through Michigan State University’s Catalyst Commission.
Across his creative work, he is drawn to stories that build connection between people and illuminate what it means to belong, remember, and imagine new possibilities for ourselves and our communities.
Why Stories Matter
Whether acting, writing, teaching, or collaborating, Randy is drawn to stories that carry emotional truth, theatrical imagination, and a sense of human possibility. He believes theatre is a place where the personal and the communal can meet, where ghosts can speak, where history can be reimagined, and where audiences can encounter something deeply human.
“Giving voice to characters that have no other voice, that’s the great worth of what we do.”
— Meryl Streep
Let’s Connect
Randy continues to work across stage, screen, voiceover, education, and new play development.
For acting inquiries, writing opportunities, collaborations, readings, workshops, or development conversations, please reach out.
Email:
randy.alvarenga1@gmail.com
よろしくお願いします。