Jean-Remy Monnay (Remy) is the founder and the Producing Artistic Director of the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY (BTTUNY), founded in 2010, which mission is to promote performances and theatrical pieces by, and about, artists of color. In highlighting these works, we hope to foster greater understanding, appreciation and participation in the performing arts within communities of color. Remy was born in Haiti and raised in a small town called, Ville Bonheur also known as Saut-D’Eau. Remy, as a little boy, was very active in theatre, doing Shakespeare and reading poetry on stage in his native tongue, French. In 1982 at the age of 18, he moved to New York, where he found the English language barrier difficult as a stage performer. He joined a Haitian Theater Troupe and performed in French and Creole, traveling to Montreal and other French and Creole speaking communities.
In 1997, he decided to move from Brooklyn to the Capital Region. He took a break from theatre for about two years, but in early 1999 he decided not to let language or anything else get in his way of becoming an English-speaking stage actor. He enrolled in Schenectady Community College to study performing arts in English.
In late 1999, Remy auditioned for the Hubbard Hall Theatre Company in Cambridge, NY, where he met Kevin McGuire, the resident Artistic Director. Kevin offered Remy a part in his first major production at the theatre, “Saint Joan”.
From February of 2000 to the present time, Jean-Remy has appeared in over 200 plays, films (including Grand Army – Episode 4 in Netflix), Follow Her, Time Crunch, commercials and a documentary for the History Channel. He has directed The Piano Lesson, TopDog/UnderDog, Hoodoo Love, Sweat, The Light, Flyin’ West, Yours For The Oppressed, Barbecue, Dead and Breathing, AIN’T Misbehavin’, A Lesson Before Dying, The Niceties, Mountaintop, Camp Logan, Fences, Eclipsed, Harriet Tubman Visits A Therapist, Medal Of Honor Rag, Slow Dance On The Killing Ground, Intimate Apparel, The Exonerated, American Dream, Wedding Band, Reunion in Bartersville, Meridian Mississippi, American Dream and many more.