A Black man with close-cropped dark hair and a beard wears a dark brown jacket and a red t-shirt, smiling at the camera

Joel Cicero

M.A. Alumnus

Joel Cicero is an actor, talker, and writer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Benin. He was awarded the Best Actor and Most Creative Arts Student award for Theatre Arts Students Association (TASA) in 2009/2010. While at the university he was involved in a range of literary activities and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Creative Writers Club, UNIBEN.

He is a distinguished poet and has won prizes for his poetry, such as the Editor’s Choice Award for International Society of Poets 2004/2005 and Runner Up, Sparrow Poetry Prize 2009, Port Harcourt, for the poem, ‘Au revoir’. He was poet nominee, Poet of the year competition 2005/2006 at the 20th Anniversary International Society of Poets Convention and Symposium, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

His play ‘The Sceptre’ was selected for the LoveWorld Festival of Music and Arts (LFMA) cavalcade that took place in, Johannesburg, South Africa.

As a research expert in the theatre, he engages in new concept ideation and a firm adherent to the theatre for social change that advocates for theatre of the people, for the people and by the people. He was a panelist and speaker at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education  (ATHE) Conference 2022, Detroit, Michigan and currently serves as the Vice-President of the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), SFSU chapter.

He is a recipient of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA), conservatory acting scholarship award and dreams of pursuing his acting career in Los Angeles.