Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Claire Houghton Renoe. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Claire, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Growing up in Berkeley, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by innovative new work at theater companies like the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Shotgun Players. The plays I saw spoke not just to my experience but to realities beyond my own small existence. I yearned to be a part of this, but it was not until exploring different paths of study in undergrad that I knew I wanted to pursue theater professionally. I enrolled at UCLA as a psychology major while exploring what drew me to the arts. I found that psychology and theater examine the human experience from entirely different perspectives. Theater did more than describe and analyze: it was transformative. It spoke to my heart as well as my mind. I deeply appreciated the ability of theater to express the unsaid in a way that could reach and move a broad audience beyond academia. I applied to the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, and declared a theater major. I haven’t looked back since.

Claire, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an actor and director working in San Francisco and Los Angeles. I aim to create playful, healing performances that explore themes that resist public discussion to foster connection and self-reflection. I have performed with Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, Korsa Musical Theater Company, Ross Valley Players, The Great Dickens Christmas Fair, and at UCLA. My directing work has been mostly focused in musical theater and original work, and produced by UCLA’s Untitled Theater Company and Hooligan Company, Albany High School, and Los Angeles Theatre Initiative.
I approach my creative projects with passion, rigour, and kindness. Whether working as an actor or director, it is the process of collaboration that excites me most.
These past few years I have become deeply involved in developing an offbeat feminist comedy, The C Word by Sarah Lina Sparks. After performing in its debut at UCLA I was invited by Los Angeles Theatre Initiative to direct this original work for the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I have very much enjoyed directing a third production of The C Word, will return to Edinburgh August 18-23 after a successful Hollywood Fringe run.
Before traveling to Scotland I look forward to performing in a solo show, Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan, at the Live Oak Theater in Berkeley August 9 and 10.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I find it incredibly rewarding to collaborate with a group of talented people around the shared practice of storytelling. The discoveries made in the rehearsal room, whether working to articulate a moment onstage or develop a relationship between characters, are incredibly exciting to me. Ultimately, it is the communal nature of live theater that I find so compelling. Opening that community to an audience is the ultimate goal, and witnessing that audience connecting with the story, possibly experiencing the world in a surprising new way, is rewarding like nothing else.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Developing my voice as a woman in collaborative spaces has been so transformative for me. As an actor I pride myself on the presence and focus with which I listen to scene partners and collaborators, and as a director I had to learn the importance of trusting my own instincts and voicing my ideas confidently. This incredibly valuable skill has since informed my acting work, allowing me to fully explore impulses in contributing to the ecosystem of a rehearsal room.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://clairehoughtonrenoe.com
• Instagram: @clairehrenoe
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@clairehoughtonrenoe

Image Credits

Chris Jon Photography
Dr Dave Photo
Makela Yepez