Mark has, since 2012, held a personal chair as Professor of Theatre Training and Education, and until August 2019 was Associate Dean (Student Experience) in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. He trained originally at the École Jacques Lecoq, and with Philippe Gaulier and Monika Pagneux, in Paris. His research interests are in the movement training of actors and performers, the history and practice of physical theatre, the theatre and pedagogic practice of Jacques Copeau and of Jacques Lecoq, the creative use of reflective writing, innovative performance pedagogy, and he welcomes interest from research students in these areas. As well as teaching and researching theatre practice he has experience of directing and performing new plays, site-specific performances, and community projects. He is on the Editorial Board of the Theatre Dance and Performance Training Journal and has published widely on performer training and the history and development of physical theatre. In 2011 he completed the inaugural Oxford University/NCEE Entrepreneurial University Leadership Programme, and led the University’s successful application for recognition as THE Enterpreneurial University of the Year.

Research:

My research focuses on physical theatre practice and performer training (in particular in relation to movement and physicality). I have written on the work of Jacques Copeau, Suzanne Bing, Jacques Lecoq and Frantic Assembly, and on the movement training of actors within the UK. I have recently co-authored the first study of the cultural history and impact of mime and physical theatre practice within the UK.

Areas of Expertise:

• Actor and performer training
• Historical and contemporary development of mime, physical theatre and movement practice.
• The work of Jacques Lecoq and Jacques Copeau.
• Contemporary physical theatre practice - for example, the work of Frantic Assembly.

Actor and performer training; Movement training for actors; Performance, movement and the body; Physical theatre practice and theory; The work of the French theatre pedagogue Jacques Lecoq; The work of the French theatre director and teacher Jacques Copeau; the work of Frantic Assembly.