Ric Siler

When I told my parents that I was going to move from West Virginia to New York, at the ripe old age of 33, to pursue my dream of acting, my mother said: 'You're going to be a writer.'

I'm not sure what she based that on because I hadn't been seriously applying myself as a writer up to that point, but my father always said she was 'witchy'.

At any rate, I moved to New York and chased my dream: studying with Ed Morehouse at HB Studio, doing many showcase productions, the usual. Then I met my wife in one of these showcase productions, and we eventually had a child, which put the acting on hold as we took a sabbatical to see to raising our daughter. Then I saw an ad in Backstage for auditions for a production of The Trip to Bountiful. All the parts were regional and the men were all in my age range, so I had to do it. Since I had no monologue that was appropriate, I decided to write one based on my grandfather, who was a farmer in Kentucky.

That monologue changed our lives. I was cast in the play. Ellen Burstyn was the lead, and through her we found Nyack, NY, where we have lived ever since. I also got into Actors Equity through that production. After that experience, my wife said these fateful words to me, 'See what happens when you write?'

Indeed.

Since then I have written many full length plays and a few one acts (one of which won some awards). About 2008 or 2009, I decided to combine my acting and writing and try my hand at solo work; I have written and performed six solo pieces, most recently Like a Sack of Potatoes at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, where I received a four star review!

My play Where the Rain Never Falls was broadcast on WBAI radio, in New York.

In 2016 my wife and I performed in Beckett's Happy Days in the historic Byrdcliffe Theater in Woodstock, NY (where I also performed a number of my solo pieces).

I have been affiliated with several groups over the years, including: Woodstock Fringe Playwrights Unit; Theatre Artists Workshop, Supporting Players; Blueberry Pond Writers Workshop; Hudson Valley Professional Playwrights Lab; The Genesius Guild; Pulse Ensemble and Westchester Collaborative Theater.

Among my other credits, I was directed by Edward Albee in his play Counting the Ways, and appeared in the John Sayles film Matewan.

Along with Actors Equity, I am a member of the Dramatists Guild and SAG/AFTRA.

Some highlights