Mark E. Lord

Mark Lord teaches courses in acting, directing, playwriting and performance theory, as well as providing direction and guidance to students in the Bryn Mawr-Haverford Theater Program's two plays per year. Under Lord's leadership, many of these student productions have earned widespread acclaim; Philadelphia Weekly gave a scene from his Play of Embraces top honors in its list of the Philadelphia area's "Ten Best Theatrical Moments of 2001." 

Lord has an abiding interest in the creation of site-specific work and has made a number of site works at Bryn Mawr and in Philadelphia. He has directed more than 10 projects based on the writing of Samuel Beckett and a number of pieces by Gertrude Stein, including several world premieres. He also loves more conventional writers, and he has directed plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Strindberg. In addition to his work for the stage, Lord has published several articles and essays on contemporary theater practice. 

Lord has worked as a director or dramaturg at many leading theaters, including the Actors Theatre of Louisville and Philadelphia's Wilma Theater. He has taught at the Yale School of Drama, the Curtis Institute and the University of the Arts. Since 1992, he has led Big House (plays and spectacles), a small professional theater company he founded with Bryn Mawr Senior Lecturer and Designer Hiroshi Iwasaki. Its work has been supported by grants from many major foundations and has twice mounted featured performances commissioned by the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.