Mark Up the Globe
Mark Diaz
Theatre Provocateur
Mark Diaz is an International Theatre Creator fascinated by the idea of a Total Theatre, a theatre encompassing the totality of Human Expression (voice, movement, acting skill), reflecting the totality of the community, and uplifting the well being of all people involved.
The 2023 Watson Fellow of Total Theatre, Mark has Studied with Katie Mitchell, Eugenio Barba, Anne Bogart & SITI Co., Matthew Lloyd, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Globe, Grotowski Institute, The Actors Studio (Auditor), Kongo Noh School, Terpsichore Butoh Center, amongst others. Inspired by his teachers and interactions across the world, Mark is emboldened to develop a globally informed, fully embodied, and totally accessible theatre for every audience.
As an actor, Mark has Performed with: ISTA/Odin Teatret at the Theatre Olympics (Hungarian Natl. Theatre) for Anastasis/Resurrection, the Japan-UK Season of Culture in Narukami Thunder God at the EdFringe under Fujima Kansuma Kai & Leonard Pronko (Kabuki), Tom Leabhart (Corporeal Mime), the Dorset Opera Festival, Mangku Bawa of Sunari Wakya Bali (Gambuh), and in many American Musicals and Shakespeare productions of all kinds.
He recently Assistant Directed at Arcola Theatre for Sean Turner. Now he is directing Once on Rumspringa at the Bush Theatre and Assistant Directing for Brigid Larmour at the Finborough theatre. He is passionately working on new projects adapting canonical works to root into the living community of East London and on collaborative new writing projects.
He is available for directing, performing, and advising projects anywhere in London, New York City, Los Angeles or Globally!
Mark Diaz on Directing:
I am dedicated to building community-centered, globally informed theatre rooted in the totality of human expression. My work moves between disciplines, cultures, and traditions, fueled by the belief that theatre must reflect and uplift everyone in the room — onstage, backstage, and in the audience.
My calling is to direct theatre that serves the present moment — theatre that says something. I seek to stage stories with purpose, ignite conversations, and create a space of belonging, joy, and reflection. Whether staging classical works or devising new multidisciplinary pieces, I am committed to an artist-centered process that honors the body, spirit, and voice of all.
I believe theatre is born from love — the effort we give, the stories we tell, and the people we invite in. Diverse, inclusive, experimental, exploratory, engaging;
This is the heart of Total Theatre.
Core Beliefs: Directing is knowing how to communicate with people appropriately
Meet people where they are
We cannot control anyone other than ourselves
You are as much.a part of another's experience, as they are of yours
Be Bold, Live Generously
Total Theatre is Human-Centered Performance
Upcoming
I will be directing a one off staged reading at the Bush Theatre of Once on Rumspringa written by Ellis Stump!
April 1st, 730pm @ the Bush
To request a seat reservation, please fill out this form: Here
SYNOPSIS: For their three-year Rumspringa, Amish besties Sadie Smucker and Willa Stoltzfus have shared a cheap trailer, crystal meth addiction, and romance. Today, they face their rite-of-passage choice: return home to safety and surrender their forbidden love, or survive "on the outs" somehow forever.
Clock is ticking, six sinners must come clean. This ensemble story addresses repressed identity, sexuality, socioeconomic challenges... and blind faith in rural America. BYOBonnet!
Directing Work
The Trial of Galileo & The Trial of Brecht
Directed & Adapted by Mark Diaz, After Bertolt Brecht
Corbett Theatre - January 2026
Assistant Directing
Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson Apt 2B
Written by Kate Hamill
Directed by Sean Turner
Arcola Theatre London
Assistant Directing
The Old Ladies
Written by Rodney Ackland
Directed by Brigid Larmour
Finborough Theatre
Excerpts from Columbia University, Graduate Directing
More Directing at Columbia University
Like a Good Neighbor. Riverside Theatre, Columbia
A State Farm Insurance goes awry when the immigrant salesman realizes the snake oil is not worth the price of freedom. What is freedom, and why are we paying to belong in a place which does not meet us where we are? Chaos ensues off script
Agamemnon. Riverside Theatre, Columbia University
The Watchman, a world in a tower. Site-specific, the watchman, after 10 years waiting and watching for the beacon light of Agamemnon, makes their own light. The trauma of patience, pressure, and hallucination.
Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield
Riverside Theatre, Columbia University
A non-linear flash through the tumultuous, loving, vengeful relationship of two star crossed lovers. Meditations on touch and distance in relationships. Quick paced, and hot tempered -- balancing fleeting moments, with lasting tensions.
Video Link Provided in Photo -->
World Theatre Directing
Kabuki Theatre in English, California & EdFringe
Kabuki Tachimawari Fight excerpt from Gohiiki Kanjincho
Kabuki Directing Scene from Narukami Thunder God
Mark has directed Kabuki in translation as a representative of the Embassy of Japan in the Uk for EdFringe 2019. He has guest lectured at universities in Japan and the USA on Kabuki and approaching intercultural theatre, acting as co-organizer of the Japan Innovation conference at Pomona College.
Balinese Gambuh Dance, Indonesia
Bye Bye Bali, version 1 at
Watson Conference, Bowdoin College
Tari Bule Bali - Bali Fusion Dance
Artropeace in Ubud, Bali 2025
Global Theatre Engagements
Acting Monologues
Theatrical Monologues Classical and Contemporary
Realism film monologue