[2] She left the field of psychology to study theater, and in 1948 accepted a scholarship to attend Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop at the New School for Social Research.

"[8] In 1968, Carroll joined the New York State Council on the Arts upon the request of executive director John B. Hightower.

She also studied in the fields of clinical and industrial psychology, and was awarded a scholarship to do postgraduate work at the New School for Social Research in 1948.

[3] Her philosophy of directing and her technique for creating her folk plays reflect similar theories, ideas, and aesthetic principles to those of Bertolt Brecht.

[12] She performed in many of the school's productions, including roles as Clytemnestra in Agamemnon, the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, and the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland.

Carroll made her professional stage debut as a Christian in a summer stock production of George Bernard Shaw's Androcles and the Lion at the Southold Playhouse on Long Island.

[13] She played Addie in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes and then, in 1949, Bella in Arnaud d'Ussaeu and James Gow's Deep Are the Roots.

Later, due to a shortage of faculty positions, Carroll created a one-woman show and toured the United States and the West Indies until 1957.

She made her London stage debut at the Royal Court Theatre on December 4, 1958, as Sophia Adams in Moon on a Rainbow Shawl.

[19] In 1957, she formed her first all-black cast to present Howard Richardson and William Berney's Dark of the Moon at the Harlem YMCA.

[13] The second production of Dark of the Moon launched the careers of several young African-American actors, including James Earl Jones, Shauneille Perry, and Harold Scott.

Common stereotypes of African Americans led Carroll "into creating and directing new works that positively and artistically presented people of color in theater and art.

There, she founded the Vinnette Carroll Repertory Company, where she remained as artistic director and producer until her failing health forced her to retire in 2001.