COURTESY SIDNEY HORTON

Sidney Horton has been a fixture in Charlotte’s theater community for two decades as a director, actor and instructor. He’s directing Actor’s Theater of Charlotte production of “Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3).”

Sidney Horton is living the dream.  

For over two decades, Horton has lived in the Charlotte area making a living in theater.  

“Thank God, I was able to keep myself busy by doing theatre, but also by teaching theater” said Horton. “I’ve been highly blessed to do theater and only theater since I’ve been here. This has been my sole source of income since I’ve been in this town.”  

This month, Horton returns to Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte with Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3).” The production is Feb. 24-March 12.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve worked with a number of companies, but some of my best work has been here at Actor’s Theater” said Horton. “When they asked me to direct this piece, I was thrilled to do it—then I read it, and I was like ‘oh this is a hard piece,’ which is all the more intriguing.”

Horton fell in love with the theater at an early age.  

“My sister was in high school, and they did ‘The Sound of Music’ and she played Mother Abbess, and I remember going to see that and just thinking ‘that is what I want to do.’ It was everything to me, and from that moment on, that was all I wanted to do.”  

A graduate of East Carolina University, Horton ensured he developed a well-rounded craft, not just as an actor, but in technical and teaching aspects of theater as well.

 
“I studied theater, art, and education, but I also studied performance,” he said. “After I graduated, I stayed in Greenville for about three years until I moved to Charlotte.”

Horton has worked on projects at ATC, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Mooresville Community Children’s Theatre, the Afro-American Cultural Center (now the Gantt Center) and Matthews Playhouse.

“Throughout all of that time, I was just doing shows,” he said. “I’ve had some major directing breaks here at ATC.”  

Over two decades as an actor, teacher and director, Horton has seen the evolution of the theater landscape in Charlotte, but firmly believes it still has room to grow. 

 
“A number of people do leave this market, and I do understand why—it can be limited in some ways, but the talent pool in this town, I will put up against any talent, anywhere,” he said. “The number of strong actors and directors and designers and technicians that we have here, are some of the best that you will find anywhere. I would like to see more support for theater. I would like to see more theaters in this town period.” 

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