Mark Cryer

Mark Cryer’s career as a professional actor, playwright and director spans almost 40 years. Among the numerous plays he has written, No other People, Objects in the Mirror (co-written with Lester Purry), 99 Questions You’ve Always Wanted to ask an African American are highlights. Cryer has performed in television and film, his latest work includes, Diary of a Foreign Exchange Student (Netflix), Confession, Gotham and the Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down. His extensive theatre credits span the globe and include plays such as Thurgood, The Meeting, The Tempest, Hamlet, Fences, and Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind. As a director he has directed an eclectic array of plays which include West Side Story, Hamlet, Rent, Angels in America, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

Distinctions

• N.Y. State Sen. John DeFrancisco arts grant, 2004
• Puffin Foundation grant, 2004
• Onondaga Individual Artists Grant, 2004
• Jones Award, Playwrights Center; Objects In The Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, 1991
• Emerson Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Grant, Hamilton College, 2001, 2005
• J.R. Hatch Excellence in Teaching Award, Hamilton College, 2001
• Faculty innovation grant, Hamilton College, 2003-09

College Service

Department chair, fall semester 2009
URTA coordinator
Wednesday Group coordinator (a semester-long series of workshops for theatre majors)
Committee on Academic Standing, 2012-present
Admissions Committee, 2011-present
Posse mentor, 2010-present
Oral Communications Advisory Committee, 2011
Director; M-Theatre Project 2007-12
Member, DOF Search Committee, 2006
Member, Planning Committee, 2006-08
Member, Committee on Student Activities, 2003-09
Member, Communication Committee, 2003
Member, Diversity Advisory Committee, 2002
Member, Posse Advisory Committee, 2001-03
Member, Diversity Committee, 2000-01
Member, New Faculty Orientation Committee, 2000-03/05-07
Member, New Student Orientation, Hamilton College, 2000
Member, Planning Committee for Kirkland Projects; Southern Accents, 2000
Panel Discussion, Kirkland Project; Southern Accents, 2000
Panel Discussion, Men Of Color Conference, 2001
Speaker, Student Awards Ceremony, 2003
Speaker, closing remarks, "Spinning Into Butter" panel discussion, 2003
Speaker, Kwanza celebration, 2000-02
Speaker, Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, 2001/2006
Judge, speaking contest, 2006
Admissions: mock class, lunch with admitted students, 2006
Dean of students: first year forum leader, 2006
Wrote, directed, performed 99, 2002-04

Professional Affiliations

Actors Equity Association
Association for Television & Radio Artists
Black Theatre Network
Association for Theatre in Higher Education

Appointed to the Faculty

1999

Educational Background

M.F.A., Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Certificate: Shakespeare, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
B.A., University of Minnesota
Actors Equity Association
Association for Television & Radio Artists

Personal Interests

Golf, bicycle, roller blades, baseball, football, skiing