Walter Deshields and Theater in the Neighborhood

Walter DeShields is an Artist/Performer/Educator/Scholar born and raised in South Philadelphia. While Walter is mostly recognized for his performance career in Philadelphia, it is the nearly two decades in service, mentor-ship and educational leadership which are at the core of his work and values.

Walter has been committed to moving our community forward and being responsible for bringing arts and activism to the Philadelphia community.  As a collaborator with Public Health Management Corporation, Communities In Schools of Philadelphia, the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Education Fund, Walter has created sustainable programming and cultivated special relationships that have built the foundation of his arts activism.

As a theater and film actor, Walter is co-founder and Co-artistic director for Theater in the X; a professional  theater company created in 2013 to provide residents of West Philadelphia and the African American community at large the opportunity to see professional quality theater…

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The free performance of Charles Fuller’s 1979 drama “Zooman and the Sign” grapples with neighborhood violence that has hardly changed.