South Boston

R. M. Lawrence is a fine arts multi-disciplinarian with a five-decade career in the
performing arts. R. M. is a proud Wilsonian actor who has performed in fifteen August
Wilson productions including, most recently, as Wining Boy in the 2025 Actors
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Piano Lesson. Known onstage
simply as “ranney” (pronounced rainy), he is an international stand-up comedian who
has headlined at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, London’s Comedy Store, and The
World-Famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Also a poet (nominated for Best International
Poet by London’s Farrago Poetry Group), musician (piano/singer), writer (has penned
ten one man shows and more than a dozen plays, screenplays, and teleplays), and
stage director (including Webster University – St Louis, Shakespeare & Company – The
Berkshires, Galapagos Art Space - New York, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre –
Pittsburgh, and the Straz Center - Tampa), Mr. Lawrence has been a teaching artist for
three decades including for the Arts Council of Hillsborough County, Patel Conservatory
and University of South Florida. As a visual artist, R. M. likes experimenting with acrylics
and is influenced by the works of Gerhard Richter, Ernie Barnes, and Caravaggio. Keep up at www.itsranney.com.