Bob Shryock, MFA
Program Director; Independent Projects I & II
Theatre
Theatre - MFA Screen Acting
Biography
As program director, Bob is responsible for the strategic vision and its implementation for the MFA in Screen Acting program. Bob regularly collaborates with our Goldsmiths colleagues to uphold the program’s pedagogic and professionalization goals, and to ensure the quality of the student, faculty and staff experience in both cities. As assistant professor, he teaches Independent Projects I & II and directs film productions in the first year of the program.
Bob’s professional, creative and personal journey has positioned him at the intersection of higher education, and performing arts and entertainment, holding positions as an educator and administrator, as well as director, writer, producer and actor.
Originally from Manila, Philippines, Bob came to the US through foster care and adoption. He did most of his growing up in the Southeast US. Otherness and belonging, equity and inclusion, collaboration, and harmony between rigor and play are foundational to Bob’s approach to leadership and his facilitation of spaces, groups and productions/projects.
As a creative, Bob is a story-maker and bridge-builder. His work often explores alone-ness, belonging and ideas of home. He is a big fan of fantasy, science fiction and any story - in any medium - that dares the reader/audience to imagine boldly & question playfully. Bob has held artistic leadership positions in New York and the Bay Area and he’s been recognized for his work as a director in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bob is especially passionate about collaborative approaches to creating, developing and premiering new work.
Additionally, Bob has served on faculty at Accademia dell’Arte (Arezzo, Italy) and Academy of Art University School of Acting (San Francisco). He has taught topics in acting, actor-generated performance, and physical/visual storytelling at dozens of colleges and universities around the US. As an actor, Bob has performed onstage and onscreen in New York, the Bay Area, the Southeast/Midwest, as well as in Italy and Germany.
Bob holds an MFA from Accademia dell’Arte (Arezzo, Italy). He studied acting & directing as an undergraduate at Western Kentucky University. Bob is a member of the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), where he serves on the Equity & Inclusion Council and co-Chairs the BIPOC/Global Majority Group.
