Now playing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Comedian and recovering Shakespearean actor, Rodney Gardiner, strives to make sense of his feelings about God.
In this one man comedy, Rodney tries to abandon God despite his deeply Christian and Caribbean roots. His story is one of an undocumented black boy growing up in tumultuous 1980’s Miami where racial unrest, an immigration crisis, and the drug war is just another Tuesday.
SMOTE THIS is an entertaining web of stories and tangents that explores one black man’s reckoning with tradition, legacy, and religion
Design by Krzysztof Bednarski.
“Gardiner stands out in a cast of standouts.”
Hollywood Reporter
photo by Adam Hendershott
Rodney is currently shooting a recurring role in a new Netflix crime drama and getting ready to shoot a new movie starring one of his all time favorite actors. More to come!
From Scratch
Rodney currently appears in a major recurring role as Preston in this epic new romance, starring Zoe Saldana.
David Makes Man
Catch Rodney in the recurring role of Corey Roberts in season two of David Makes Man (OWN)
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
For a decade, Rodney has been a member of the OSF acting company. With a penchant for versatility, Gardiner has performed major roles in everything from Shakespeare to musicals, slapstick to intimate dramas.
Waterwell
Rodney is a member of Waterwell, a civic-minded theater, and media company.
Raised in Miami, Florida, Gardiner got his start performing in rehabs, group homes, and shelters. Under the guidance of his mentor, Teo Castellanos, Gardiner learned to craft dynamic characters through keen observation and virtuosic physicality. He would go on to play major roles in Shakespeare, musicals, stage dramas, and television.
photo by Eric Campbell