ABOUT MARK H.
a.k.a. TheNeoGriot
"My style is a collage by Romare Bearden, un film de Souleymane Cisse, mixed fresh with some hip-hop, a slice of Marlon Riggs, a pinch of Ailey, a dash of anime. I am excited by theater that is theatrical, that utilizes the full potential of human energy to transform the mundane into the magical. I am excited by theater that engages with cosmic ideas, transcends the boundaries of space and time, and activates the limitless powers of the imagination. I am excited by theater that embraces the beautiful and the ugly, and is concerned with reaching minds, hearts, and spirits. I am excited by theater that penetrates, yet is not impenetrable. I am excited by theater that is created with purpose, that is necessary. The theater that excites me is the theater I strive to create." --Mark H.
A native of Washington, DC, Mark H. is a director, performer, scholar and educator with a primary focus on American theater and theater of the African diaspora. He approaches theater as a rite, as an art, and as an ancient technology for sight, development, liberation and healing. The work he is most interested in is classical, post-dramatic, Afrofuturistic, highly physical, site-specific and immersive, underground, divine, sustainable, and aimed at individual and community development. He earned his BFA in Acting with high honors from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, received his classical theater training at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London and is a graduate of the MFA Directing program at Columbia University School of the Arts, where he was the Dean’s Fellow and studied under the mentorship of Anne Bogart and Brian Kulick. Mark is currently Assistant Professor of Directing and Acting in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Theatre and Drama.
What is a NeoGriot?
A NeoGriot is a griot for a new age, a modern-young-fresh take on an ancient tradition. The West African griot is a figure known to many as a storyteller, but in reality griots served numerous other important functions in society. They were artists, historians, advisers, interpreters, teachers, exhorters, warriors, witnesses, and much more. To call myself TheNeoGriot is to assume these roles and responsibilities in my work and the communities I serve.