TONY CYPRIEN

Tony was born and raised in Watts, South Central Los Angeles, by his mother, grandmother, and neighborhood gang members.  He matriculated through Los Angeles County’s juvenile halls and county camps, the California Youth Authority, and ultimately state prison. After spending 26 years and eight days incarcerated, he was released 14 years ago and lived to tell about it.  

Released in 2011, he discovered improv in 2012, and a world opened up to him in performance art.  To hone his craft, he took improv classes at Berkeley Repertory School of Theater from Rebecca Stockley and a class at the American Conservatory Theater.  The first time out on stage, he won a MOTH StorySlam, and from there it was the MOTH GrandSlam, two MOTH Mainstage Performances directed by Jenifer Hixson, and two MOTH Radio broadcasts on NPR. 

While telling impactful stories that were both personal, vivid and historically interesting, he discovered audiences in local Bay Area venues including but not limited to the Marsh Theater, Stage Werx, Live Oak Theater, and Mill Valley Public Library.  

He became part of the Marin Shakespeare Returned Citizens Theatre Troupe (RCTT) at its inception in 2015 and its inaugural performance in 2016. With RCTT he continued to develop solo performances, co-created original works with other performers, and with direction from the creative Suraya Keating, he participated in productions such as How Shakespeare Heals. Through RCTT, he also worked as a Teaching Artist at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center and performed in Playback Theater.

Tony was invited to perform in a curated storytelling event BASH – Bay Area Storytelling Hijacked –produced and directed by Scott Sanders at Shotgun Theatre. He was also one of the invited performers for a creative mix of storytelling and improv – The Gather – performed at BATS and produced by Lisa Rowland.

Tony found a new level of acting support and stage time from the Formerly Incarcerated People’s Performing Project (FIPPP) conceived and developed by Mark Kenward.  Tony has performed in two FIPPP festivals, FIPPP’s Solo Sunday Salons, and his own Solo Showcase in 2025 featuring a new, longer work, Jacky. He was a featured performer in “Survival, Healing, and Performance: Formerly Incarcerated Voices on Health, Justice Inside & Out,” part of a collaboration between UCSF-UC Law’s Consortium on Law, Science, and Health Policy. 

Tony also enjoys acting, and his performance in Train Stories with Wayne Harris at the Marsh in 2023 earned him a nomination for Best Actor in the Bay Area from “Broadway World – Regional.” The show also played at the Afro Solo Arts Festival at Potrero Stage theater in 2023. 

After a sold-out one-hour performance of Jacky, he performed the show at Sunset Solos, produced by Jeremy Greco, at Sea Level SF. He was also an invited performer for the 20th Anniversary Celebration of “Tell It On Tuesday” produced by Tim Ereneta, Wayne Harris, Mark McGoldrick, and Natacha Ruck. 

Meanwhile, Tony has worked full time to earn a living. Since 2017, he has been employed at a publicly traded corporation building robotic parts for the semi-conductor industry.