John “Ray” Proctor

Dr. Thomas “Ray” Proctor is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Tulane University with a Ph.D. in Theatre Research (University of Wisconsin Madison).Performances include Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (The Organic Theatre), Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (Arizona Repertory Theatre), Othello (The Greenbriar), Airline Highway and Father Come Home from the Wars (Southern Rep). He directed Into the Woods (Summer Lyric Theatre), Derek Walcott’s Pantomime (Crescent City Stage), and Alice Childress’ Trouble in Mind (Tulane University). In September 2022 his essay “Romeo and Juliet at an HBCU” was published in the essay collection Romeo and Juliet, Adaptation, and the Arts: “Cut Him Out in Little Stars” (The Arden Shakespeare). In January of 2023 his essay “Reconsidering and Recasting” was published in Contemporary Black Theatre and Performance: Acts of Rebellion, Activism, and Solidarity (Bloomsbury Press). His primary research examines the intersection of race, casting, and the peculiarities and specifics of identity-conscious casting practices, particularly in Shakespeare. This past year he was the dramaturg for the Signature Theatre’s production of Play On! (August 2025) and The Folger Shakespeare Library’s Julius X. This spring (2026), with a Lavin-Bernick Faculty Research Grant, he directed Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman in partnership with the Tulane University Department of Theatre and Dance.