Troy Coleman (he/him/anything) is a Ph.D. student in Theatre & Performance at the State University of New York Buffalo (UB), focusing on "Villains and Performer Wellness.,” by examining critical masculinity, Crip theory, trauma awareness, consent practices, and monsterology. With degrees from the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University, he integrates his scholarly insight with practical performance experience as a stage and screen union actor (AEA & SAG-AFTRA). Coleman is trained in stage combat, completed The Second City Training Center Conservatory Program in Chicago, and is a certified Consent-Forward Artist through Intimacy Coordinators & Directors (IDC).  

Coleman’s article, “The Uncoupling of Humanity Aboard the Pullman Car Hiawatha,” appeared in The Thornton Wilder Journal (2023), and his piece “Facing the ‘Bruno’: How Talking About Stage Fright Eases the Isolation, Not the Anxiety” was published in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (2025). He has presented conference papers nationally and internationally at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE); American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR); Mid-America Theatre Conference (MATC); Subject/Object/Practice/Place: Connecting Creatively Through the Performing Arts (University of Malta); the Wooden O Symposium, among others. Coleman is the recipient of the UB Department of Theatre and Dance Steig Olson Scholarship; at University of Colorado, he was awarded a Fellowship for the Support of Research & Creative, the Wolle Grant, the Eaton Grant, and the Hazel Barnes Flat/Schwalbe Travel Award to research theatre in London, England.  

Teaching undergraduates and non-majors at UB, Coleman has been the instructor of record for Writing About Performance, Basic Acting I,  and Basic Acting II while serving as a teaching assistant for additional courses. His teaching pedagogy, grounded in professional and academic experience, intentionally expands accessibility by incorporating visual presentations alongside lectures to support students like himself, who retain information more effectively through reading. He practices “ungrading” to bolster student focus toward learning objectives and active engagement. Coleman has often been rated highly for his enthusiasm and for creating a positive classroom environment. He has served his academic community as Assistant Editor for Theatre Journal, the Secretary for the Ends Collaborative Performance Research Graduate Student Reading Group, Web Manager for the ATHE Performance Studies Focus Group, and Theatre and Dance club President for UB’s Graduate Student Association (GSA).

Coleman has built a repertoire of performing scumbags, ne’er-do-wells, and characters who often meet their demise violently. This recurring stage experience sparked his interest in the psychological and embodied impact of playing bad guys; he continues to use performance-as-research (PaR). Coleman’s acting experience spans styles with companies like Colorado Shakespeare Festival, The National Theatre for Children, Defiant Theatre, and Hell in a Handbag Productions. He received the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Irene Ryan Nomination for Acting for his performance of Franz in Appropriate (2021). An advocate of safer working conditions, Coleman is a proud union member of AEA and SAG/AFTRA. 

Offstage and outside the classroom, he is an accomplished distance runner, quiet vegan, and animal rights activist.