The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Professor Mark Colson will join the faculty as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Theatre & Drama in fall 2023. Colson, who has served as a lecturer in the department since 2021, is a teaching artist in theatre, TV, and film.
“I am honored to be a part of this esteemed professional training program, where teaching artists are nurtured and respected,” shared Colson. “The students at U-M are highly motivated, creative, honest, and intuitive – qualities that make for engaging work and discussions while inspiring me in my artistic pursuits.”
Colson is committed to student engagement and communicating straightforward, practical knowledge of acting and on-camera work rooted in immersive theatre training. His research concentrates on the intersection and balance between stage and film performance.
In his prior faculty role at Michigan State University, Colson created the Theatre2Film project, which provided a hands-on, immersive experience for students behind the camera and a unique experience for the actors – contributing and shaping original material and characters for the stage, and then distilling that same performance for the film. Over the course of four years, four feature films were produced and screened at the Traverse City Film Festival.
“Mark Colson approaches teaching with the goal of sustainable careers for students. He has already garnered extensive on-camera acting credits and maintains an active studio profile that models a healthy tenacity for navigating the industry,” commented Tiffany Trent, chair and associate professor of the Department of Theatre & Drama. “Mark brings a technical facility that synthesizes acting skill with camera technique, and he reframes ‘failure’ as choices that shift actors towards discoveries in the artistic process. He will prove to be an invested, collaborative partner on our faculty!”
Colson’s television credits include recurring roles in I Am Not Okay with This, Outsiders, Banshee, Low Winter Sun, Justified, Heroes, Invasion, The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, and Angel. Guest appearances include Mad Men, Bones, Parks and Recreation, CSI: NY, King of Queens, The Gilmore Girls, Alias, Star Trek: Voyager, and Profiler. Feature film credits include A Rose for Her Grave, Don’t Be a Stranger, Flags of Our Fathers, Demolition Man, Marked, Passed the Door of Darkness, Alaska Is a Drag, and Stay with Me.
His stage credits include performances at the Denver Center, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, the Purple Rose Theatre, the Williamston Theatre, the Boarshead Theatre, the American Shakespeare Collective, Theatre Banshee, Hudson Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, and Odyssey Theatre.
Colson received his BFA in acting from Webster University and his MFA in acting from the National Theatre Conservatory.