About

My name is Hallie Riddick, and I am a theater artist and songwriter from Louisville, Kentucky currently based in New York. My work encompasses writing, directing, generating and performing. I create works surrounding femmehood and the Southern Gothic. Through magic, song, ritual, and movement, I find the putrid in the pretty and release femmehood from the restraints of romanticism. I am an alum of Sarah Lawrence College, The Moscow Art Theatre School and The National Theater Institute’s Advanced Directing Program. 

The relationship between the romantic and the repulsive drives my work. How do they illuminate one another and release us from dark truths? I write pieces that combine text and song influenced by the sounds of bluegrass and country folk. I write primarily for young femmes and through rhythm, community, and ritual, I construct worlds that allow for their loudest, biggest and most angry selves. My interest in southern narratives stems from my childhood in Kentucky. Growing up, I was entrenched in the rules of southern womanhood; I was taught that it was my responsibility to keep my trauma a secret. I work now to free young femmes from their secrets and to create space for the gross, aggressive, and unapologetic. 

As a director and performer, I enjoy working on the development of new work and alongside playwrights/creators to clarify the piece. I want to be involved in bringing to life narratives that are wrestling with our present, and I am excited by work that is actively responding to its environment. I believe that new works deserve space and attention in order to confront the contemporary  and discuss the conflicts and triumphs of the present. I often direct pieces that live in the definition of magical realism. Magic can clarify our reality. Pieces that live in-between reality and dreams most earnestly articulate what it means to walk through the world. The disillusionment with reality and the possibility of a dream or nightmare is what attracts me as a director to this kind of work. As a performer, I thrive on new plays and within generative spaces. I have worked as a co-creator on projects ranging in content, but always devoted to building the piece as an ensemble. Whether I am acting as a director or performer, it is always important to me that I work as part of the community and allow for a generous creative process. 

New Play Exchange profile here.

(Acting and Directing specific resumes upon request)