Crystal Rae is a classically trained actress and a writer for both stage and screen. In 2020 Houston Press awarded her the coveted Best Actress award for her performance in Dirt Dog’s Theater Co.’s White Man on the Bus as Shatique.

She has performed in The Catastrophic Theatre’s premiere of A Maroon’s Guide to Time and Space (Harriet Tubman) in the Ensemble Theatre’s productions of Paradise Blue (Pumpkin) - International Black Theatre Festival, The Lawsons (Gloria), Single Black Female (SBF 1), Mahaila (Mildred), Pretty Fire (Charlene) I Too am America (Harriet Tubman), Da’ Kink in My Hair (Ensemble Member), Main Street Theater’s A Civil War Christmas (Sarah) and as (Candy) at Queensbury Theater’s production of Whistle Down the Wind.

Produced by On The Verge Theatre in collaboration with Houston's Ensemble Theatre, Rae’s Tied, a one - man play, was named Houston’s Best new play by the Houston Press in 2023. It was also the recipient of the Black Seed Grant Award. It was chosen for a mini workshop with the National Black Theatre in NYC and has been selected for the United Solo Festival for the fall of 2025. She is more than elated that her work Lil’ Man Saves Christmas was a part of The Ensemble Theatre’s touring education roster for the 2023- 2024 holiday season. With the awarded Let Creativity Happen Grant for 2024 by the Houston Arts Alliance she will be staging Lions in the fall of 2024.

She is the producer of the documentary, Making Elijah, which is in post - production and she leads puppeteering workshops for incarcerated youth through Houston’s Brave Little Company. When Crystal Rae isn’t teaching middle school theatre, she is writing and directing short films starring puppets for both children and adult audiences alike. www.crystalraeproductions.com