Mark Robbins

MO Rep Credits: Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol - '00-'01)
                Ghost of Marley (A Christmas Carol)
                Cleomenes (The Winter's Tale)
                Snobby Price (Major Barbara)
                Trigorin (The Seagull)
                E. K. Hornbeck (Inherit the Wind)
                Albert Einstein (Picasso at the Lapin Agile)
                Kenny (Laughter On the 23rd Floor)
                Charles Condomine (Blithe Spirit)
                Acaste (The Misanthrope)
                Oedipus (Oedipus the King)
                (The Deputy)
                (The Fantasticks)
                (Romeo and Juliet)
                (King Lear)
                (Born Yesterday)
                (True West)
                (Nicholas Nickleby)




Other Credits: Coterie:     Atticus Finch (To Kill A Mockingbird)
               The Unicorn: Larry (Closer)
                            Mark (Zone 3)
                            (The Sisters Rosensweig)
                            (Speed-the-Plow)
American Heartland Theatre: (Sherlock's Last Case)
                            (What the Butler Saw)
                            (Solitary Confinement)
                            (The Little Foxes)
                            (Deathtrap)
                            (How the Other Half Loves)
               HASF:        Toby Belch (The Tempest, 2001)
                            Prospero (Twelfth Night)
                            Duke Vincentio (Measure For Measure)
                            Don Adriano de Armado (Love's Labour's Lost)
                            Macbeth (Macbeth)
                            Leonato (Much Ado About Nothing)
                            Richard III (Richard III)	
                            Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet)

 Chicago credits:  Northlight Theatre:  (Benefactors)
                  Steppenwolf Theater:  (Our Town)
            Oak Park Festival Theater:  (Julius Caesar)
                        Court Theatre:  (The Oresteia)
                                        (The Lady's Not For Burning)
                                        (The Rivals)
                                        (Arms and the Man)
                                        (The Birthday Party) 

          Boston Shakespeare Company:   (Romeo and Juliet)
                                        (Private Lives)

Pictures

Mark as Macbeth with blood on his hands

Macbeth comforted by his wife, played by Jan Rogge

Mark (in the baseball cap) helps hold back Ted Swetz in Laughter on the 23rd Floor

Mark in HASF's Richard III.

Mark with the rest of the cast for Closer at the Unicorn.

A steamy picture of Mark and Cheryl Weaver in Closer.

My Thoughts

What is there to say except he is remarkable! I have never before seen an actor in so many different leading and supporting roles that I absolutely loved him in. I first saw Mark as Duke Vincentio in HASF's Measure For Measure. There aren't words to describe how much I enjoyed his performance and how his line, "Whereto, if you'll a willing ear incline; What's mine is yours and what is yours is mine," brought tears to my eyes. Mark plays my absolute favorite character in A Christmas Carol, the ghost of Jacob Marley. He has the best lines in the play, a 'kickin' costume, a fun accent, and he gets to use a trap door! Again, Mark blew me away in his role as Macbeth for the HASF, so pitiable and yet deserving of his fate. I've not yet seen Mark in a role too large or too small for him. Indeed, he bears each role like it has been his entire life, and that life is totally natural to him. Pleasantly, his humor is always apparent; just read his bios in the programs. And yes, Mark, people do read them; at least I do. I regret that I have not yet had the opportunity to formally meet him, but perhaps one day I will. In the meantime, I think to myself, "What will Mark do next? How could he ever top this?" And yet, he always does.

Mark portrayed a marvelous Einstein in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. He was smart and zany and the perfect counterpart to Newcomb's Picasso. What impressed me the most was not his remarkable acting when he was the center of attention (although it was impressive enough), but his presence as merely a spectator to other events. He sat for long periods of time at the side table reading his paper and casually watching the others converse, maybe with a small line here or there, and yet his presence was never forgotten. Just amazing.

I also want to comment on Mark's portrayal of Trigorin in The Seagull. He had so much pull in the story, his character was so tied up in the action (if you can say there is action in this Chekhov play), and yet he never does a thing! He is so passive...he sits and writes and fishes, and yet so much of the plot revolves around him, almost focuses on him. I saw part of the performance when his understudy, Larry Greer, played Trigorin, and the difference was remarkable between the two interpretations of the character. Not that one was better than the other, just very different. Mark seemed to draw the attention of his audience in a much more passive way, very skillfully.