Richard Stockton Rand has acted on and off Broadway, playing lead roles at regional theatres in the United States, Europe and Canada, in film for public television, and in national commercials. He has toured 10 one-person shows to dozens of universities, theatres, and festivals, and is a recipient of the Indiana Arts Commission-National Endowment for the Arts Artist Fellowship for solo performance.
“Santaland Diaries” is a funny play. Very funny. So funny I could barely take notes from laughing so much. So funny the audience around me was constantly laughing. Not titters and guffaws, but deep belly laughs – the most I’ve heard any audience laugh all season. Rich Rand played the part of Krumpet and…like some elfin Richard III, our protagonist bounces back and forth between phony sprightliness and cynical reaction takes, all with running commentary to the audience. Rand dances this schizoid dance with just the right body language, just the right timing – spot on, and hilarious. As I mentioned, this is a one-man performance. Rand has to do it all – and he pulled it off.”
Marty Fugate, Arts and Entertainment, The Observer
“His one-person performance was terrific, and very popular with our audiences. (He is)…a gifted performer.”
Gil Lazier, Former Director, FSU/Asolo Conservatory
“Rand’s performance is strong, often gripping.”
Tom Scanlon, The Seattle Times
“Amusing, magical, frightening and endearing, Richard Stockton Rand’s performance conjures up answers to the question, ‘What would Willy Loman’s grandson grow up to be like?’ The protagonist’s distant, yet undeniable relationship to a father who sells fireworks unfolds in a polite, pained and animated monologue. The inventive use of lighting and fireworks (in the form a cigarette lighter) creates amazing theatrical dynamics out of the simplest staging. Rand’s characterization and storytelling skills make this script soar. SMOKE will envelope you.”
Gail Wamba, ON THE FRINGE
“The production is simple and direct, deriving palpable malice from the performance of Rand, who some will remember for his previous visits here with his one-man reminiscences about baseball.”
Vit Wagner, THE TORONTO STAR
“Your Working-Class Machine vignettes were wonderful. I am amazed at the breadth of your repertoire. I wish you had been able to stay around long enough to garner some of the wonderful comments after the evening…Thanks so much.”
Professor Susan Russo, Education Program Director
Beecher Center for Art and Technology, Youngstown State University
“Rand’s character’s hero-worship of Mickey Mantle helps him escape the hell of his life through fantasy. As his world becomes more hellish, though, fantasy stops working. He eventually grows into a person strong enough to face and shout down his demons. We give him a prolonged ovation, he smiles and leaves, and we stay in our seats. It takes awhile before I figure out that everyone is doing what I am, waiting to stop crying before going back into the light. Finally someone says, “I have to go back to work now?” and the tension breaks. We file out, and I reflect that this play is what makes the Fringe unique and valuable. I have been profoundly moved, and it would not have happened without the Fringe. He goes on to receive rave reviews from CBC radio and television.”
Kevin Longfield, THEATRUM Issue #41
“Rand’s fine portrayal makes the boy’s innocence seem as desperate as an impossible leap over the outfield fence to prevent a home run.”
Vit Wagner, The Toronto Sun
“Frightening and vividly written.”
Hedi Weiss, The Chicago Sun-Times
“A poignant performance.”
The Reader, Chicago
“I won’t give away a moment of the show to spoil your enjoyment. Mr. Rand held both the audience and his subject matter firmly in hand from beginning to end. The text is solid and Mr. Rand is true to the character throughout. To laugh and cry at the same time is a delightful anguish, but to be given hope and relief to carry you out of the theatre is a rare treat.”
Robert G. Slade, CBC Radio
Top Ten Pick of the Winnipeg Fringe Festival
CBC Television
“You’re ability to open up to the character in “I dreamed I was a baseball card” was incredible. To see an actor/writer delve into these timely issues in such an honest and frank way and to make it work for the audience was truly exciting. I have enormous respect for your talent, craft, and perhaps most of all, for your willingness to face the hard subject of humanness.”
Dr. Geraldine Maschio, University of Kentucky
“I’m enchanted with “I dreamed I was a baseball card.” Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share with readers what makes us especially proud about Indiana, her writers.
Ann. M. Stack, Publisher of Hopewell Review: New Work by Indiana’s Best Writers
“A charming, inventive series of vignettes featuring a variety of neighborhood characters and crackpots at some special moments in their lives. Richard Rand is a delight in his multiple roles, creating characters he obviously loves to portray out of a simple change of clothes, stance, and expression. An entertaining fifty minute monologue in many voices.” (USE REVIEW)
Karen Crossley, The Winnipeg Sun
“Rand gets into his thoroughly likable characters, and his on-stage changes, while minimal, are astonishingly convincing.”
H.J. Kirchhoff, The Globe and Mail
“‘little guys’ – Very good show. Book it. Audiences will be happy. Your staff will be happy. The local press will be happy. You as a presenter will be happy. Your board will be happy. Your theatre/college/community center will grow and prosper. “little guys” - Very good show. Book it.
Aaron Beall, Executive Director, NADA, 167 Ludlow Street
“Thank you for your wonderful performance of LITTLE GUYS. The entire faculty and all of the students were captivated by your work. What impressed me most was your acute characterizations. I felt that I had been given a slice of life that was at once funny and yet poignant – and to the point…I wish you the best of luck with the show. I hope that we might enjoy your talents again in the future; I know our students would benefit with interaction with you…Again, thank you for a most moving theatrical experience.
Dr. Geraldine Maschio, University of Kentucky
“I write to give my enthusiastic endorsement of Rich Rand’s performance piece, ‘A History of Comedy.’ The audience of approximately 150 enjoyed his show tremendously… Rich’s comic verve and versatility are put on display in this piece, and his masterful use of character masks and his own malleable body brought an energetic yet distinctive life to each character. He played each character’s quirks off the audience’s response and had us rolling in response to these foibles – thus making it, in my mind, a perfect bit of educational theatrical entertainment. Faculty in attendance from a number of disciplines – history, philosophy, and religion among them – told me that they wished they had required their students to attend, both for the information discussed and for the entertaining and accessible manner in which it was presented. At the same time, my theatre students, who knew much of what Rich told them, told me that his demonstration of the styles added a living element to their comprehension of theatre history…I hope that I have fully expressed my enthusiasm for Rich’s performance of ‘A History of Comedy’…for its promise for future audiences as a compelling introduction to various aspects of the theatre and a sampler of great pleasure to come as a theatergoer.”
Michael Swanson, Professor of Theatre, Fresno State
“Your presentation, ‘A History of Comedy,’ was superb! Performance and lecture were excellently combined. The Convocation Committee has received wonderfully-positive feedback from everyone (a rare phenomenon these days!) Thanks so much!”
Professor Cliff Cain, Chair, Franklin College Convocations Committee
“Thank you for your delightful presentation at the conference banquet. Everyone enjoyed it much. We had such nice comments. It was all wonderful and added so much to the ambiance of the event.”
Dr. Agnes Widder, Michigan State University
“Rich was kind enough to come in to my Theatre history course to perform a History of Commedia dell’Arte and, later, the comic aspects of certain characters from Restoration drama. He captured the student’s attention instantly and kept them interested throughout the various presentations. He is a gifted performer and teacher…Rich was such a positive influence on our program. I could go on for pages and pages.”
Shan Ayers, Director of Theatre, Berea College
“(Rich Rand) has brought two different presentations to my theatre appreciation class…Both were one-person shows in which Rich played a variety of Commedia or Commedia-type roles. Whichever piece he presented, his work was always absolutely appropriate to the Appreciation class, combining just the right amount of scholarly information with a style of presentation that delighted this large class. His Commedia presentation required nothing more than a podium and a place for costume changes (which he achieved with lightning quickness and often incorporated into the performance work). Because of this mobility and simplicity of presentation, it was an ideal event for the over-worked space in which the class met. His mask presentation involved working directly with the audience/students in ways that taught them as much about presentation styles and audience/actor relationships as it did about the technical aspects of mask work…Rich possesses the scholarly foundation and the performance gift required to bring Commedia and mask work to life. He is also a caring, devoted and gifted teacher, a performer and director of subtlety and depth, and an excellent colleague. I consider him to be one of the real strengths of the Purdue theatre program.”
Dr. Annie McGregor, Penn State University
