Bio

Mark is theater director, writer and educator.  His teaching specialties are acting, directing and dramatic literature.  His directing work includes three plays by Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure and Much Ado About Nothing.  Other directing credits range from plays by Anton Chekov, to Dario Fo to Bernard Shaw. Mark has over 25 years of experience in dramaturgy and new play development. Favorite projects include the directing two original works by university students, The Ophelia Project by Andrea Iakovidis and Stacey Kaiser and 110 Flights by Nahal Navidar.  Since 2001, Mark has worked with Bulgarian playwright Andrey Filipov to create English versions of three of his plays, A Midnight Storm, Soda, and Timequake, an adaptation of the Kurt Vonnegut novel.   Recently, Mark has focused on playwriting himself, and has collected and edited his multiple short plays.  These plays range in topic from torture to doping in cycling to aspiring hip-hop artists.  Mark has worked for the New York State Defenders Association since 1997, helping to train public defenders in NYSDA’s Basic Trial Skills Program.  He is responsible for casting and training the program’s acting company, and also coaches defenders in communications techniques.  Among other endeavors, Mark works as a standardized patient for the Albany Medical Center Clinical Competency Center as one of several lines of work in the medical field.  Mark has taught at the University at Albany, Skidmore College Coxsackie Correctional Facility and the Rensselaer County Jail. Mark also spent six years at Albany’s Capital Repertory Theatre, where he worked as Education Director, Artistic Associate and finally, the General Manager.  Mark has an M.F.A. in directing from the University of Washington School of Drama, and an M.A. in English from the University at Albany.  Mark lives in Albany, NY.