Complaint Review: Rise Above Theatre Movement

Mr. Guillory is not to be trusted, period. Whether or not his motivations are malicious and purposeful, I don't know (A true villain honestly believes he is the hero of his own story), but his actions have had serious consequence to anyone who has worked with him.

I loaned his theatre company $325 and I am still owed $100. The only way I was able to get him to pay me back anything was filing in small claims. Once I filed, he immediately started payment and we never went to court. Through the course of all of that, I discovered that he had lied to everyone about Plays411. He had claimed that Plays411 was filing for bankruptcy and all of our funds were tied up. Something about this sounded weird, so I emailed Plays411 and the owner immediately called me and dispelled any rumors that they were filing for bankruptcy. She further emphasized that they were thriving and she personally let Kenne know that he's lucky that they're not going to sue for libel and slander. Through the communications with Kenne and Plays411, Kenne told Plays411 that the only reason I was causing a stir was because I was already involved in another case with Rise Above concerning sexual harassment with two females while I directed The Eight Reindeer Monologues. This absolutely shocked me. I had only worked with four females and I knew for a fact that A) I had never sexually harassed any of them and B) I had established a strong communication line with all four females and they all knew that, if I had said anything that they felt was inappropriate, they could have told me. Just to make certain, I contacted all four females and they all laughed at the idea that I was capable of sexual harassment. They all clarified what I already knew, that I was a pleasure to work with. One went further to say that, if it wasn't for me, they wouldn't have done the show because they don't feel comfortable working with Kenne.

Kenne is in a prime city to constantly get away with this. There are thousands upon thousands of actors who are trying to either launch their acting career or hone their acting chops in any manner they can. This situation avails Kenne an unlimited amount of talent to draw upon who have to live under the assumption that this is just the way it is (I was one of them). 

Avoid this theatre company at all cost.