Faculty Profiles
Troy Dwyer Associate Professor, Theatre |  |
Education
- M.F.A with distinction, acting, University of Wisconsin, Madison
- B.A., psychology, Oglethorpe University
Teaching Interests
I am an acting-styles trainer whose areas of expertise include classical lyric performance (such as Shakespeare), the Absurd (such as Beckett) and contemporary realism (such as the methodologies of Sanford Meisner). I am also a teacher of voice and speech for actors, specializing in the techniques of Kristin Linklater and Arthur Lessac. My critical teaching focuses on queer theories and histories of performance as well as on specifically queer performance practices, such as drag performance.
Research, Scholarship or Creative/Artistic Interests
My original artistic work amalgamates theatre, dance, music and visual art to create performance-fusions that challenge assumptions about identity and power. For instance, my dance-theatre work with Afro-Modern choreographer (and longtime collaborator) Charles O. Anderson investigate queer mythologies of race, representation and social control. Other collaborations, like those with companies Parade Ground Unit and Allentown Public Theatre, have explored gender, violence, history and valor. Since 2011, my ongoing directorial project Bone of Majesty has created radical remixes of Shakespeare plays to engage with contemporary crises of social inequality. These productions, which have included The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale and Romeo and Juliet, have been lauded nationally by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and internationally by Index on Censorship and Fountain Ink. From 2008 to 2019, I served as the faculty director of the Sedehi Diversity Project at Muhlenberg, a program in which students annually create and produce an original documentary play exploring questions of diversity and inclusion on campus. I’m a member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association, and an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
