Derek has been an active participant in the Cincinnati theatre community as an actor, writer and director for over 35 years. A graduate of the School for Creative and Performing Arts, Derek then continued his education in NYC before returning after graduation to teach dramatic arts to inner-city youth in the public school system. He has been with the popular physical theatre group Performance Gallery for the past 18 years, which has produced an entry in every Cincinnati Fringe Festival since its inception. His written work has been produced in Atlanta, New Jersey, Cincinnati and Sydney, Australia. Derek is the founder of Missing Front Plate Productions, a company dedicated to producing works of BIPOC artists that are then used to teach the youth cultural history  through playwriting, and an understanding of their basic human rights. His latest work, "Silas,The Uninvited", is currently being read at Memorial Hall In Cincinnati as well at the Carnegie Arts Center in Covington, Kentucky in early 2021.