Maleek Rae
Maleek Rae is a multi-disciplinary artist from Detroit’s Eastside. Maleek is focused on merging artistic mediums with cultural activations to transform theatrical venues into chain-breaking ceremonial spaces.
As recent recipient of the 2025 Princess Grace Foundation's Theatre Honoraria, the New York Stage and Film Founders' Award, and an inaugural recipient of the 2025 MC Libby Commission with Playing on Air for their play Father’s Sin, Maleek is focused on merging artistic mediums with cultural activations to transform theatrical venues into chain-breaking ceremonial spaces. Maleek’s plays include Ceremonies for Alligator Bait or GUTTAH; Love Birds: or How to Fix a Broken Heart in A Day, and co-creations such as Ghetto Alchemy: A Lunchroom Survival Guide and BodyCount with collaborator amani meliyah.
As a performer, Maleek’s credits span theater as well as film and TV, including Law & Order: SVU; Organized Crime; HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness; and The Best Man: The Final Chapters. Maleek has also been featured in Terence Nance's SWARM exhibit at ICA Philadelphia and worked as a commercial and motion capture performer. They have been an artist-in-residence or fellow at institutions such as The Tank, Brooklyn Art Exchange, JACK, The Cell, Target Margin Theatre, The Laundromat Project, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. Additionally, Maleek is a NYCSA 2026 grantee, continuing their work with Playing on Air.
About GUTTAH PART II
As a CRITICAL BREAKS Artist, Maleek will develop GUTTAH PART II, the second installment of the trilogy play series that catalogs the assignment of many Black bloodlines to tread upon serpents. Set against the industrial backdrop of Detroit, MI, GUTTAH PART II examines life in the hood not merely as struggle but as a story of royalty and spirit.
Part I, Ceremonies for Alligator Bait, takes on family dynamics while traveling through Detroit's historical landscape. Part II, ecdysis (working title), explores themes of transness and Blackness, with an emphasis on the need to grow an extra head as a representation of double-mindness. Part III, Gator City, set in Detroit’s infamous City Slicker Shoe store, narrates the story of the first pair of alligator skin shoes ever made.
“During my time with Hi-ARTS, I will focus on developing Part II of GUTTAH, refining how music integrates into my theatrical work as a foundational element in my practice of ceremony. ”
Maleek Rae
Image Credit: amani meliyah
Programming
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Creative Team
Maleek Rae
Lead Artist
Residency Highlights
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