TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS - SF PLAYHOUSE . 2020
"His letters are loaded with emotional demands, and a beautiful back and forth takes place as he shares what his life has become after burying his son. This moment, which comes in the form of two dueling, numbered lists, devastates as Living Dead Dad searches for ways to return to his original status of being human."
— David John Chávez, Bay Area Plays
"Mark Anderson Phillips dominates the stage with a versatility of range and a chameleon-like display of what this popular Bay Area actor has in his professional toolbox."
-- George Heymont, medium.com
"Phillips' turn as a father grieving for his son, killed by a drunk driver, is harrowing, made all the more remarkable given that he embodies this psychologically complex character mere minutes after having played someone else."
— Jim Gladstone, Bay Area Reporter
"Having lost his son to a rogue drunk driver, he’s despondent — uncomfortably, relatably so."
-- Matt Charnock, SFist
"One by one he lists his heartache and for any of us who've experienced loss, we're right there with his tortured, raw emotions."
-- Steve Murray, Broadway World
"Sugar replies in a similar vein that is an acting highlight between Phillips and Damilano."
— Kedar Adour, For All Events
"Mark Anderson Phillips managed to smash my heart so that Sugar's answer could somehow put me back together again."
-- SF Theater Blog
COMMUNICATING DOORS - CENTER REP . 2019
"The six-character ensemble is top rate. Mark Anderson Phillips brings a talent for British buffoonery to bear as the bumbling Harold."
-- George Heymont, Medium. com
"Mark Anderson Phillips is a hilarious highlight in the relatively minor role of the buffoonishly dim-witted and overconfident hotel detective."
-- Sam Hurwitt, San Jose Mercury News
"As Harold the bumbling hotel detective, Mark Anderson Philips shines with wit and tricks. "
-- Carly Van Liere, Theatrius
OSLO - MARIN THEATRE COMPANY . 2018
"Mark Anderson Phillips shines as the idealistic Terje Rød Larsen."
-- George Heymont, My Cultural Landscape
"Mark Anderson Phillips performance as Terje is a superb study in passion, ego, and self doubt."
-- Richard Wolinsky, KPFA
"Phillips is magnificent as part strutting peacock, part heartfelt peacemaker Rød-Larsen. His alcohol-fueled takedown by the participants at one point during the negotiations was wrenching."
-- Harry Duke, Pacific Sun
"Mark Anderson Phillips, amusingly brash, egotistical and charismatic..."
-- Sam Hurwitt, Marin Independent Journal
"An astounding job of acting by Phillips."
-- Barry Willis, Aisle Seat Review
"Mark Anderson Phillips is the bull-headed, highly excitable, and sky-high optimistic dreamer/orchestrator, Terje Rød-Larsen. The intensity and determination that permeates Mr. Phillips’ entire body convince us that Terje is a force that cannot be easily curtailed. "
-- Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys
"The cast, directed by Jasson Minadakis, bring aching, tremulous humanity to the text."
-- Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
"The final lines of the play, delivered with impeccable vulnerability by Phillips as Rød-Larsen, directly plead with the audience to see these events not as a failure but as proof that pure hope can be enough to catalyze lasting social change."
-- Grace Orriss, The Daily Californian
"Mark Anderson Phillips and Erica Sullivan shine as the couple saddled with a burden so enormous and bold that it borders the surreal."
-- Steve Murray, For All Events
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE - MARIN THEATRE COMPANY . 2017
"The show has a rollicking cast of characters that the Marin cast brings to life beautifully. Robert Sicular is a hearty playhouse owner bedeviled by Mark Anderson Phillips’ sinister loan shark who soon becomes enthralled by the magic of the theater."
-- Sam Hurwitt, Marin Independent Journal
"And as he often does when on a local stage, Mark Anderson Phillips leaves a fantastically memorable impression as Fennyman, the money man behind Will’s production who goes from demanding bully to a sentimental producer with a big heart and a bigger desire to be on stage himself."
-- Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys
THOMAS & SALLY - MARIN THEATRE COMPANY . 2017
"Thomas Jefferson, beautifully portrayed by Mark Anderson Phillips, is an enigma: racist, egotistical, entitled, but also serious about the rights of mankind."
-- Richard Wolinsky, KPFA Bay Area Theater
"Mark Anderson Phillips is full of childish self-absorption and persuasive charisma as Jefferson."
-- Sam Hurwitt, Marin Independent Journal
"Phillips skillfully paints Jefferson as only dimly aware of his contradictions with regard to slavery."
-- Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
"Bradshaw’s Jefferson is a self-justifying prig who barely understands his own twisted desires, played with great precision by Mark Anderson Phillips."
-- John Wilkes, KQED
"Jefferson (keen, focused Mark Anderson Phillips) keeps claiming he is against slavery and argues with other Virginians against it. But his actions, his condescending manners, and his lifelong slave-holding all betray his dilemma. It boils down to profit over people, as usual."
-- Barry David Horwitz, Theatrius
"Mark Anderson Phillips gives a superb performance as Thomas Jefferson."
-- Richard Connema, Talkin Broadway
"The conflicted and contemplative Thomas Jefferson is earnestly and passionately played by Mark Anderson Phillips, who engages in anachronistic banter with John Adams and Ben Franklin as if they were college buddies who "get to do all the fun stuff" when it comes to shaping the emerging new government."
-- Christine Okon, Theater & Such
"Mark Anderson Phillips gives a wonderfully honest performance as Jefferson."
-- Steve Murray, For All Events
"Portraying Thomas Jefferson as a flawed dreamer, Mark Anderson Phillips carefully steps between a sympathetic view and naively bigoted Jefferson who is used to getting his own way."
-- Alexa Chipman, Imagination Lane Reviews
"Mr. Phillips’ Jefferson is a troubling conundrum as he declares himself “the foremost abolitionist of the world,” who sees slavery as a “moral blotch on our nature” but cannot bring himself to free his own treasury of slaves. "
-- Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys
KEN LUDWIG'S BASKERVILLE! A SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY - CENTER REP . 2016
"Sherlock Holmes becomes almost giddy when there’s a new mystery to solve, and in Center Repertory Company’s “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery,” it’s easy to see why. It’s tremendous fun from beginning to end. Rolf Saxon is a nicely understated and mild-mannered Watson, a perfect counterpoint to Mark Anderson Phillips’ pricelessly animated Holmes."
-- Sam Hurwitt, San Jose Mercury News
"Master detective Sherlock Holmes, masterfully portrayed by Mark Anderson Phillips..."
-- Jan Miller, Joint Forces Journal
"...played to perfection by Mark Anderson Phillips..."
-- Sally Hogarty, East Bay Times
"Mark Anderson Phillips was totally in his element as Holmes. Perhaps the greatest joy of the evening was in the zeal with which Holmes would instinctively pierce Watson's plodding research simply by going with his gut."
-- George Heymont, My Cultural Landscape
THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN - THEATREWORKS . 2016
"Phillips delicately navigates the switchbacks from fear to hope to empathy that lead to Chris' realization that he can save the day. These actors make us not only invest in every confrontation along the way, but also see ourselves in these characters and wonder how we will react when the seasons turn for us."
-- Karen D'Souza, San Jose Mercury News
"Outstanding performances. Phillips, looking scruffy and ragtag, carries the weariness of middle-age failure with conviction. Both actors are strong enough to fill 90 minutes playing splendid point and counterpoint, finding all the humor and the nuances to bring out the best in the text."
-- Jeanie K. Smith, Palo Alto Weekly
"Mr. Phillips brilliantly uses pauses as unique punctuation that hint that, for everything he reveals to his mother, another paragraph is going unsaid somewhere deep in his own troubled, torn-apart soul. Only when he finally opens the gates for an emotional clearing out of the inner unsaid do we finally get to see the real Chris emerge from his veneer of mostly muted response and reaction."
-- Eddie Reynolds, Talkin' Broadway
"Phillips has that rare gift of making monologues sound like something real people might actually say. As he tells a story, he is searching for each word and then surprised at his own discovery of it."
-- Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
IDEATION - 59e59 NYC . 2016
"Critics’s Pick: Ideation gradually ramps up the uncertainty and moral horror of its little band of collaborators, played by a first-rate ensemble. The characters’ alarm mounts, the mood darkens, and their anxiety becomes faintly contagious — excellent fodder, really, for post-show conversation."
-- Laura Collins-Hughes, The New York Times
"The cast is well balanced but Mark Anderson Phillips is the unofficial star of the show. He projects a sort of feet-on-the-table level of comfort on stage that allows him to own the space more thoroughly than his co-stars. He provides a comedic buoyancy that maintains the play’s darkly humorous edge through its grimmer moments. It would be a lesser show without him."
-- Ben Botwick, Scribicide
"The standout of the bunch is the raucously ostentatious Mark Anderson Phillips as Brock. He uses his physical comedy to his advantage. His over-the-top nature worked to bring out the comedic elements from the darkness."
--Michael Block, Theater in the Now
"The animated Mark Anderson Phillips is fearlessly obnoxious as the dominant Brock. Mr. Phillips gleefully revels in the character’s abrasiveness with hilarious and dramatic results."
-- Darryl Riley, Theater Scene
"... a nimble and committed cast makes a possibly contrived situation feel all too real. Mark Anderson Phillips' Brock begins in total cynical self-assurance and later spins out doomsday scenarios with equal zest."
-- David Barbour, Lighting and Sound America
"Mark Anderson Phillips is hilarious as Brock, the dour, ironic member of the team."
-- Yvonne Korshak, Let’s Talk Off Broadway
"Each member of the cast strikes just the right tenor between the serious nature of their characters and their hilarious, unpredictable foibles."
-- Marina Kennedy, Broadway World
"Acting is excellent across the board. This is a superbly cast production of actors who work with one another like a humming machine."
-- Alix Cohen, Woman Around Town
"Director Josh Costello has coached each of his expert actors to portray believable, intelligent, cocky, sarcastic, yet, in the end, highly vulnerable characters; this is the same troupe that introduced the play under Mr. Costello’s direction at the San Francisco Playhouse in 2013, and their timing and byplay couldn’t be better. "
-- Samuel L. Leiter, Theater’s Leiter Side
STAGE KISS - SF PLAYHOUSE . 2015
"Phillips impresses mightily with a performance that's almost completely kinetic: his mumbled, incomplete responses to situations create the comedy's funniest moments. There is no way from the outside to know how much of this tour de force comes from the actor and how much from the (real) director, Damilano, but the result is irresistible."
-- Janos Gereben, examiner.com
"The cast is headed by three Playhouse MVPs: Carrie Paff is an actress just coming back to the stage after leaving to raise a now-16-year-old daughter; Gabriel Marin is her leading man with whom she shared a turbulent but never quite forgotten romance in the past; and Mark Anderson Phillips is perhaps the worst director of all time (“Just go with your instincts!”). All three have shining moments."
-- Chad Jones, Theater Dogs
"The entire cast turns in delightfully drawn portraits. Phillips’ sublimely self-important Director [is] trying hard to cover up his exhilaration at having a star of her caliber at the New Haven Playhouse (and getting comically choked up over his own ideas)."
-- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
"A wonderfully quirky Mark Anderson Phillips is ideal as the director with writing aspirations."
-- Georgia Rowe, San Francisco Examiner
"Mark Anderson Phillips is wonderful, as always, as the director of the show in which She (Paff) and He (Marin) have been cast."
-- SF Theater Blog
"Mark Anderson Phillips as the Director is nothing short of brilliant. His physical presence and stage movements provided some of my greatest pleasure as an audience member."
-- Patrick Thomas, Two on the Aisle
FALLEN ANGELS - THEATREWORKS . 2015
"Mark Anderson Phillips and Cassidy Brown as Fred and Willy take relatively small parts and exploit them in every way possible. Each plays the high-society, rather stilted husband to a ‘t’ in Act One; and each deteriorates into panicked, bubbling idiots in Act Three when he believes his wife has betrayed him. (Mr. Phillips at one point lets out a multi-octave shriek that is worth the price of admission)."
-- Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys
"Reviewing it gives me a chance to sing the praises of an absolutely A-list cast that took Noël Coward's 1925 comedy and found a hundred ways to squeeze more humor out of it than is easily seen in the script itself. Overman is Julia, telling her husband Fred, "You'll only get hiccups if you gobble like that." "I'm not gobbling," says the excellent Mark Anderson Phillips as Fred, not long before releasing a considerable burp."
-- John Orr, Regarding Arts
MIRANDOLINA! MISTRESS OF A TUSCAN INN - CENTER REP . 2015
"Mirandolina toys with the affections of a penniless fop Marchese (an exquisite Mark Anderson Phillips). Phillips manages to find sensitivity in the follies of a fallen aristocrat. There's also a juicy bit of shtick involving the pompous Marchese scrambling to catch the loose change from the Count's pocket."
-- Karen D'Souza, San Jose Mercury News
"On the romantic side she is wooed by a trio of suitors, and the savvy Mirandolina toys with each of them, including the penniless Marchese (excellently portrayed by Mark Anderson Phillips), who has nothing more to his name than his title."
-- Russ Mowrer, Joint Forces Journal
"You will not recognize Mark Anderson Phillips as he immerses himself in the foppish role of the Marchese."
-- Kedar K. Adour, For All Events
"Mark Anderson Phillips is a delight playing the Marquese of Forlipopoli."
-- Richard Connema, Talkin' Broadway
A CHRISTMAS CAROL - CENTER REP . 2014
"Mark Anderson Phillips gives the role of Ebenezer Scrooge new liveliness and texture. He is phenomenal as he brings the story to life, infusing the character with the spirit of a young man, especially in the last scenes when he reminds me of the great British actor Alastair Sim who took on the role in the J. Arthur Rank film. Phillips has created a perfect voice for the character, which adds to Scrooge's weirdness and his wit."
-- Richard Connema, Talkin' Broadway
IDEATION - SF PLAYHOUSE . 2014
“Smug alpha male Brock (the estimable Mark Anderson Phillips) is used to taking control of any situation, breaking down any existential quandary into solvable bite sizes. Phillips can pack an encyclopedia of subtext into the stammer "so, so, so, so... ."
-- Karen D'Souza, San Jose Mercury News
“The devilishly funny and demonically dark comedy is as sidesplitting and, if anything, more deeply disturbing than it seemed at first encounter. The very fine acting ensemble seems to have deepened its portraits of the characters' constantly escalating the excruciatingly logically based paranoia.”
-- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
“These could be some of the best performances I’ve seen in recent memory. In particular Phillips — the ruffled consultant, baffled one moment, then awkwardly attempting to control the room the next — is pure adrenaline rush.”
-- Clinton Stark, Stark Insider
“The role of Brock seems tailor-made for Mark Anderson Phillips (whose aggressive behavior and body language become increasingly agitated over the course of the play's 90 minutes).”
-- George Heymont, My Cultural Landscape
“Phillips and Wisely's chemistry alone is worth the cost of admission.”
-- Lily Janiak, SF Weekly
“Mark Anderson Phillips is outstanding as the egotistical, quick-thinking Brock. Loeb's words, combined with expert delivery and timing, are mind blowing in Phillips' verbose performance.”
-- Richard Connema, Talkin' Broadway
“. . . Brock (masterfully played at the edge of control by Mark Anderson Phillips) . . .”
-- John Marcher, A Beast In A Jungle
“Mark Anderson Phillips is always a joy to watch as Brock's exterior intellectual bravado breaks down into insecure physicality.”
-- Kedar K. Adour, For All Events
“The actors, particularly Mark Anderson Phillips as the childish Brock bent on "excessive winning," attack their roles with gusto and the audience just has to hang on for the ride.”
-- Kevin Kelly, RegardingArts.com
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR - SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE . 2014
“If I had to single out one moment of almost unbelievable comedic delirium, it would be the stunning scene in which Mistress Ford’s husband (Mark Anderson Phillips) disguises himself and approaches Falstaff with a plan for entrapping both the seducer and his merry prey. Phillips tears up the redwood glen with an arsenal of vocal acrobatics, lurches, stutters, tics, and twitches John Cleese would kill for. The opening night audience was flat-out undone by this actor’s chops.”
-- Christina Waters, Good Times
“Then there’s Mark Anderson Phillips playing the jealous husband Frank Ford . . . He is drop-dead entertaining as he flits around suspiciously hunting for anyone lurking in cabinets and closets all the while encouraging Falstaff to court his own wife, Mistress Alice Ford.”
-- Joanne Engelardt, Santa Cruz Sentinel
“Jealous Frank Ford (Mark Anderson Phillips, excellent) is flung into a tailspin of panicky paranoia and eventually driven to scheming (in disguise, of course) to discover the truth...”
-- Traci Hukill, Hilltromper Santa Cruz
“An ensemble of consummate actors, from Mark Anderson Phillips as the furiously jealous fool Ford to Allen Gilmore as the chipper Page, elevates Kirsten Brandt’s cheeky staging.”
-- Karen D’Souza, San Jose Mercury News
“The strongest performance was probably that of Mark Anderson Phillips whose jealous, “mansplaining” Master Ford was delightful.”
-- Kurt Daw, Shakespeare's Tribe
AS YOU LIKE IT - SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE . 2014
“Director Mark Rucker has helmed an "As You Like It" of exceptional clarity and fine comic highlights layered atop an intriguing undertow of melancholy. [A] host of very strong actors -- Mark Anderson Phillips as a slyly wicked Oliver, William Elsman's robustly love-besotted Silvius, Kit Wilder's solid old shepherd Corin -- keep things engrossing.”
-- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
“We even see Celia and Orlando’s now-reformed-but-formerly-evil brother, Oliver (Mark Anderson Phillips) falling in love, a rarity for a romance that so often plays like an afterthought to tie up loose ends. This is a vibrant, funny, and thoughtful production of one of Shakespeare’s best.”
-- Alexandra Heeney, The Stanford Daily
“Greta Wohlrabe plays Rosalind’s cousin Celia, and it is fascinating to see her paired with Mark Anderson Phillips playing Orlando’s repenting older brother Oliver. (In Merry Wives, they played Mistress Page and Master Ford, respectively.) Here, their chemistry rivals that of the main couple and their giddy humor becomes infectious.”
-- Kurt Daw, Shakespeare's Tribe
THE BIG MEAL - SAN JOSE REP . 2014
“Brandt and her cast bring out the best the script has to offer on Nina Ball’s sleek, upscale diner set. The scene in which a somewhat older and wiser Sam finally proposes to Nicole - now played by Mark Anderson Phillips and Carrie Paff- is captivatingly funny, edgy and touching all at once.”
-- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
“Those emotional changes, and the constant handing off of roles, keep the uniformly excellent cast fully engaged. Even in the most densely populated scenes . . . the characters emerge in distinct, dimensional performances.”
-- Georgia Rowe, San Jose Mercury News
“[T]he attention to details, the subtleties in the writing, certainly the direction, as well as the superb acting are what make this piece seep slowly into your bloodstream.”
-- Susannah Greenwood, Artsalot
“All of the actors in this ensemble work are excellent.”
-- Judy Richter, For All Events
HIR - MAGIC THEATRE . 2014
"In his prime he was a cruel husband and seething racist whose work as a Roto-Rooter plumber in California’s Central Valley paid the bills while he took sadistic delight in crushing the souls and self esteem of his wife and two children. However, as HIR begins Arnold is dressed in a rainbow wig, his face luridly covered with makeup, wearing little more than an adult diaper as he struggles for coherence. A stroke has reduced his mental capacity to that of an uncomprehending child. As a result, Arnold's not good for much of anything except, perhaps, his Social Security benefits when he dies. Father no longer knows best. An almost unrecognizable Mark Anderson Phillips appears as a pitiable wreck of the former Arnold who is bullied by his wife."
-- George Haymont, My Cultural Landscape
"Isaac is no more prepared for this chaos than he is for the helpless post-stroke state of his once macho-dominant father - now kept dressed in frilly nightgowns and clown makeup by Paige and played with brilliant semi-intelligibility and a festering mean streak by Mark Anderson Phillips."
-- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
"A family reunion is a nightmarish business for this lot. Arnold, (a deeply compelling turn by Mark Anderson Phillips), the once tyrannical king of the castle, has been reduced to a gibbering fool after a debilitating stroke. The twisted relationship between Paige and Arnold is as terrifying as it is ridiculous. Phillips nails the whimper and cry of the helpless, while Opel radiates rage through chipper smiles."
-- Karen D’Souza, San Jose Mercury News
"[Mom’s] in charge these days because violent, abusive Dad (Mark Anderson Phillips, impressive in a role that’s vastly different from the characters he usually plays) had a stroke. Humiliated and mistreated by now-dominant Mom, who sprays Dad’s face with water every time he tries to utter a word, he’s a pathetic, clown-like figure, a prisoner in his own partly paralyzed body. "
-- Jean Schiffman, San Francisco Examiner
"Endearingly, played by Mark Anderson Phillips [Arnold is] achingly pathetic in how eagerly he plays dress-up and follows all of Paige’s orders, every one of which is designed to debase him."
-- Sam Hurwitt, The Idiolect
"The gist becomes clear through context. Clear, too, is Mark Anderson Phillips’s performance despite his character barely speaking. He skillfully portrays Arnold, the stroke-ridden ex-plumber, ex-abuser father who represents a disintegrating culture and who’s typically plopped in front of the Lifetime Channel when Paige and Max go out."
-- Woody Weingarten, Marinscope Community Newspapers
"As the stroke-disabled Arnold, Mark Anderson Phillips offers a bravely convincing performance of a bashed man."
-- Richard Dodds, The Bay Area Reporter
A CHRISTMAS CAROL - CenterREP . 2013
“Veteran actor Mark Anderson Phillips, in the lead role as the crotchety Ebenezer Scrooge, offers the perfect “bah humbug” in his performance, especially his facial reactions to seeing the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.”
-- Jan Miller, Joint Forces Journal
“As the cranky, money-pinching, inconsiderate, unloving man, Mark Anderson Phillips still manages to amuse audiences with his mocking of Christmas pleasures and the occasional "bah humbug." Phillips alone is worth the cost of admission with his priceless facial expressions and growing glow. At show's beginning, Phillips wears white-washed makeup and all-black attire, and he walks with a crooked step. By finale, he blushes with scatterbrained delight. Unsure of what to do with his new joy, Scrooge flies into the streets, giving out presents and exchanging his humbugs for "Merry Christmas."
-- Harmony Wheeler, BroadwayWorld.com
IDEATION - SF PLAYHOUSE SANDBOX SERIES . 2013
“Mark Anderson Phillips is pricelessly entertaining as Brock, the project leader, a self-satisfied wheeler-dealer whose wheels are constantly turning from one direction to another, whether he's mercilessly mocking someone or zooming through an increasingly intricate mental maze of doomsday scenarios.”
-- Sam Hurwitt, KQED
"Ideation" is being presented in the company's developmental "Sandbox" series. But it's a sign of how far the Playhouse and its Sandbox have come that director Josh Costello's snappy production is taking place on what was [once] its main stage. Another such sign is the talent assembled on that stage, particularly the central trio of desperate schemers trying to salvage an imminent video-conference presentation to the CEO.... Mark Anderson Phillips’ unself-consciously arrogant, quick-thinking Brock - the way he sputters "so-so-so-so" with each brainstorm is a treat... Paff, Phillips and Wisely create a hilarious maelstrom of doubt, teamwork, fear, conniving, suspicion, reassurance and dread.
-- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
In its world premiere as part of San Francisco Playhouse’s new-plays Sandbox Series, under the astute direction of Josh Costello and with a crack acting ensemble, [Aaron Loeb's Ideation is] fast and funny. Costello ratchets up the tension to a comically absurd, even Kafkaesque, degree. Along the way, an underling (Ben Euphrat) is high-handedly fired, a team member (Jason Kapoor) goes out for a walk and doesn’t return, two others (Michael Ray Wisely and Mark Anderson Phillips) lose control and end up in fisticuffs. The relationships among these discrete personalities are part of what make the play, with its web of unnervingly convoluted ideas, so theatrical. Played out with actors this good, Loeb’s play simply soars.
-- Jean Schiffman, San Francisco Examiner
GOOD PEOPLE - Marin Theatre Company . 2013
“The scenes between Resnick and Phillips are incredibly satisfying, both in the writing and performance. She really pushes Mikey’s buttons and it’s fun to watch him squirm. Phillips is grounded and complicated as Mikey and is well matched with Resnick.”
— Chad Jones, theaterdogs.com
“There's an exquisite uncomfortableness always itching under the skin of Mark Anderson Phillips' Mike, as if he never really wants to be having the conversation he's having and is straining to be the good guy he sees himself as.”
-- Sam Hurwitt, Marin Independent Journal
“The acting is so good—I scarcely recognized Mark Anderson Phillips, whom I’d last seen at MTC in Waiting for Godot, as the doctor, Mikey—you feel as if you are somehow invisible in the various rooms, watching real people interacting. Highly recommended.”
-- Pamela Feinsilber, examiner.com
“Mark Anderson Phillips is outstanding as Mike, a perplexing character. He successfully portrays Mike's nervousness with this figure from a world that he escaped long ago. His Southie accent is perfect.”
-- Richard Connema, Talkin' Broadway
“Mark Anderson Phillips is Mike, Margie’s former flame from the old neighborhood. In a masterful performance, Phillips shows us hints of zaniness, anarchy and fear lurking just below Mike’s smooth surface.”
-- Suzanne Angeo, For All Events
“Margie — desperate to find work but too proud to return to the Gillette factory (perpetual employer of last resort) — seeks out an old classmate, Mike (an excellent, subtly shape-shifting Mark Anderson Phillips). Tracy Young's admirable cast soon stretches out into some extended and nuanced scenes. Particularly impressive are Resnick, Phillips, and Moor who, in the second act's opening sequence in Mike and Kate's luxurious Chestnut Hill home, bring the play's themes into full swing with slow-burning intensity.”
-- Robert Avila, San Francisco Bay Guardian
THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS - San Jose Rep . 2013
“At the center of it all is Mark Anderson Phillips giving a bravura performance as the arrogant scholar who sold his soul to the devil in order to spend the next 24 years pursuing knowledge, wine, women, and adventure.”
-- George Heymont, Huffington Post
“It’s a lively, often captivating and provocative wrestle with a famously difficult play. That's largely because of the imaginative, stripped-down stagings by Brandt and her intrepid designers. It's also due to the fully invested performances of Mark Anderson Phillips, in the title role, and Lyndsy Kail, Rachel Harker and Halsey Varady as everyone else in the play's world and underworld. Phillips is a commanding Faustus, handling the rich verse beautifully in his intellectual restlessness, gut-wrenching fears for his soul and mortal terror at the end.”
-- Robert Hurwitt, SF Chronicle
“Mark Anderson Phillips (Dr. John Faustus), shows the energy of a teenager and keeps moving at breakneck speed throughout his outstanding execution of this difficult intricate role.”
-- Camille Bounds, Gilroy Dispatch
“Faust (the stalwart Mark Anderson Phillips) is a scholar kissed by the curse of narcissus. He’s so smitten with his own overweening pride that he giddily sells his soul to Satan in exchange for 24 years of unlimited power and knowledge. Phillips is never less than fully committed as Faustus wrestles with his fiery fate.”
— Karen D’Souza, San Jose Mercury News
WAITING FOR GODOT - Marin Theatre Company . 2013
“Mark Anderson Phillips infuses his Gogo with simple sweetness, the more earthbound of the pair. The assertive Didi is played with clumsy determination by Mark Bedard. Both actors are at the top of their game, cavorting on the razor’s edge between overt sentimentality and over-the-top silliness, where a tumble in either direction could spoil the effect. Like skilled trapeze artists, they keep their balance.”
-- Suzanne Angeo, For All Events
“Mark Anderson Phillips as Estragon and Mark Bedard as Vladimir are, in a word, adorable. Should these crusty characters be adorable? Why not? Their clowning is inspired, but it’s all done with heart. I really liked these guys, who affectionately call each other Gogo and Didi, and that affection only magnifies their plight. Phillips and Bedard make a captivating tragicomic duo. There’s real chemistry between them. They’re partners in the futility, frustrations and occasional fun of life, and we root for them, not necessarily to succeed, which seems a tall order, but at least to rise above the misery and tedium from time to time. There are little details in their performances that are priceless, like Bedard’s penguin-like shuffle and the way Phillips keeps buttoning and unbuttoning a top button on his coat even though there is no button.”
-- Chad Jones, Theatre Dogs
“Beckett, himself, refused to elaborate on who the characters were beyond the lines on the page, and those lines have plenty of potency when delivered by the quick-witted and sharp-tongued Mark Anderson Phillips (Estragon) and Mark Bedard (Vladimir) at Marin Theatre Company. The two play off each other so well, their slap-stick comedy act surpasses even the great "Who's on First" of Abbot and Costello fame. Think Bob Hope and Bing Crosby combined with a bit of physical clown humor and the best of Charlie Chaplin.”
-- Harmony Wheeler, Broadway World
“The production benefits from two well-matched actors in the principal roles. Mark Anderson Phillips is Estragon, the sly, expansive, often comically befuddled half of the pair; Mark Bedard is the leaner, loquacious, more intense Vladimir. Shuffling around the stage in shapeless, rag-bag clothes…their carefully wrought interdependence and mutual exasperation registers in each word, glance and precisely timed bit of comic shtick.”
-- Georgia Rowe, The SF Examiner
"Waiting for Godot” is my favorite unfathomable play. In the MTC rendition, the acting is amazing. Each of the four main performers spins theatrical gold. I think it’s one of the best versions I’ve ever seen.”
-- Woody Weingarten, Marinscope Community Newspapers
“Superb revival with a brilliant cast of magnificent actors. Mark Bedard and Mark Anderson Phillips give strong comedic performances. They brilliantly squabble in the manner of an old married couple.”
-- Richard Connema, Talkin’ Broadway
“Mark Bedard as Vladimir and Mark Anderson Phillips as Estragon bring superior clowning skills and vocal variation to their interpretations of the hapless tramps.”
-- Charles Kruger, TheatreStorm
“Mark Anderson Phillips and Mark Bedard are at the top of their game, getting every step and utterance just so.”
-- Martin Rushmere, Synchronized Chaos
“What I loved about this production is the way in which Didi and Gogo seem to be so close to each other. Their connection is deeply human and borne not simply out of need but quite a lot of love and respect. I found the whole thing to be quite life-affirming. And I don’t get to say that too often about productions of Beckett plays.”
-- Chloe Veltman, ArtsJournal
A CHRISTMAS CAROL - CenterREP . 2012
“This year, the show roars onto the stage with a new look and a new Scrooge (Mark Anderson Phillips, who is terrific).
It is, of course, the same tale of the redemption of the miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, following post-midnight visits from the ghosts of past, present and future Christmases. But the addition of
Phillips has given Scrooge's interaction with the spirits a whole new energy and feel. He brings an enormous amount of physicality to the role, infusing Scrooge with the spirit of a young man and
the characterization of a doddering old man. He has created a perfect voice for the character, which adds both to Scrooge's creepiness and his humor.”
-- Pat Craig, Mercury News
“Phillips, in his first time as the curmudgeonly old man, adds an understated honesty to this character that is too often overdone.”
--Sally Hogarty, Contra Costa Times
“The cast of 30 keeps the story moving at all times, but Mark Anderson Phillips, who plays the role of the miserly, joyless Scrooge, is phenomenal. His performance had the audience on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what would happen next. Phillips, a renown Bay Area actor, brings a real dynamic to the role, and almost by himself, brings the story to life.”
-- Evan Almdale, Joint Forces Journal
CLYBOURNE PARK - Repertory Theatre of St. Louis . 2012
“In a beautifully calibrated performance, Mark Anderson Phillips underplays Russ' pain so acutely that even his most modest eruptions seem seismic.”
-- Dennis Brown, Riverfront Times
“Mark Anderson Phillips is a Rubik’s Cube puzzle as [Bev's] husband Russ, whose quirky manner slowly reveals a man desperate to find solace as his world has crashed around him.”
-- Mark Bretz, Ladue News
“Act I of “Clybourne Park” has a kind of innocent, soulful sadness that is really impactful. Particularly effective is Mark Anderson Phillips as the father, Russ, a man who is hurting in a way that only a parent can really understand.”
-- Harry Hamm, CBS St. Louis
“In act one, Mark Anderson Phillips and Nancy Bell are a sort of textbook example of the "Father Knows Best" type of middle-aged parents. Except that he seems to be suffering from what we now call depression, and she's engaged in a perky-but-full-fledged struggle to bury the past and get on with living. After a lot of very funny dancing around their problems, it all turns very ugly, indeed. Both Mr. Phillips and Ms. Bell are amazing... [and] intensely intriguing, putting on the affable "can-do" attitude until they're forced (by a minister and a politely racist neighbor) to confront their situation.”
-- Richard Green, Talkin' Broadway
“The cast is superb with each actor pulling a double...role that allows them to stretch nicely. Mark Anderson Phillips gives a grave and disturbed turn as Russ, part of the couple whose son has died. He nearly comes undone when neighbors and a priest arrive to try and make them reconsider their realtor's choice of occupants. He's also good in the second act as a kind of goofy construction worker who has a habit of interrupting discussions at the wrong time.”
-- Chris Gibson, Broadway World
“Mark Anderson Phillips makes a strong Rep debut as Russ, a '50s breadwinner who struggles to go on after a tragedy, and then quickly flips a switch to play Dan, a jovial construction worker in the modern part.”
-- Lynn Venhaus, Belleville News-Democrat
“The show’s ensemble cast is just flawless. Mr. Phillips radiates depression as Russ and slovenly self-assurance as Dan.”
-- Chuck Lavazzi, KDHX 88.1
“Mark Anderson Phillips is powerful as the stoic Russ as you can see the tension boiling right below the surface.”
-- Stage Door St Louis
TIME STANDS STILL - TheatreWorks . 2012
“[Time Stands Still at Theatreworks] offers some of the best acting you're likely to see this season... As Sarah, Rebecca Dines...is absolutely mesmerizing. Mark Anderson Phillips...matches her with his portrayal of James. He brings great warmth to the role -- and also the fierce anger that lies just below the surface.”
--Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News
“[Sarah] is being nursed back to health by longtime lover James, a war correspondent played
by Mark Anderson Phillips, with an emotional rawness that seems extreme until we understand the depths of his own, inner war wounds.... Dines and Phillips dig into the bonds and fissures between Sarah and James in evocative depth...”
--Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
“This local production is stronger than the star-studded New York staging I saw two years ago...Mark Anderson Phillips is [Sarah’s] caring boyfriend, a freelance magazine writer who brings high-spirited compassion to their relationship, as he gropes to find workable boundaries in this
thorny partnership.”
--John Angell Grant, Palo Alto Daily News
“Mark Anderson Phillips gives a magnificent performance as the emotionally torn Jamie...”
--George Heymont, Huffington Post
“Four superb actors deliver compelling work in this sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking work. Dines and Phillips spar deftly as longtime lovers and friends, fleshing out their characters believably and with precision.”
--Jeanie Smith, Palo Alto Weekly
“Dines and Phillips are astounding, putting on stage the kind of acting that leads to adrenalin rushes in the audience… Phillips' speech about what happened to James that made him a shell-shocked mess is like an explosion on stage. It is enormous, a brilliant portrayal of Margulies'
excellent script.”
— John Orr, Triviana.com
SALOMANIA - Aurora Theatre . 2012
“The cross-examination of Allan by Mark Anderson Phillips’ deviously grandstanding Pemberton-Billing is the stuff of great courtroom drama.”
-- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
“The intensity of Mark Anderson Phillips when in the role of Pemberton-Billing is so real as to have members of the audience push back in their seats in the intimate Aurora Theatre.”
-- Kedar K. Adour, For All Events
“Mark Anderson Phillips is deliciously pompous and self-important as Billing, his resolve to have his say unshaken by any logic, sense of propriety, or hint of shame at his own priggish duplicity. Phillips is also unexpectedly touching as Maud’s brother Theo Durrant, with an air of childish innocence that makes it seem equally plausible that he’s indeed the murderer he’s made out to be but is mentally impaired in some way, or that he’s as innocent of the charges as he and his family believe him to be.”
--Sam Hurwitt, The Idiolect
"Mark Anderson Phillips embodies Pemberton-Billing’s fanatical belief in evil frighteningly well, but then does a powerful about-face in a breathtaking portrayal of Maud’s doomed brother Theo. "
--Stacy Trevenon, Stage and Cinema
“Among the more memorable of the multiple roles are Mark Anderson Phillips as the ferociously impassioned Billing, whose obsession with invisible conspiracies can find parallels in any era...”
--Leo Stutzin, Huffington Post
“Just a few highlights include Mark Anderson Phillips as the merrily grandstanding Pemberton-Billing...”
--Richard Dodds, Bay Area Reporter
“Mark Anderson Phillips is wonderfully phlegmatic as Allan's nemesis, Pemberton-Billing...”
--Chloe Veltman, chloeveltman.com
“The super-talented Mark Anderson Phillips is incredible as he has the hardest job. His Pemberton-Billing is a despicable character, yet as Allen’s doomed brother Theo Durant, he draws out your compassion almost in the same minute.”
--The Actorvist, theactorvist.com
RUMORS - CenterREP . 2012
“Everyone is fabulous in this play - especially the hard-working Lenny (Mark Anderson Phillips). His comic charm just doesn’t quit.”
-Lee Hartgrave, BeyondChron.com
“Mark Anderson Phillips is....fully immersed in the role of the nervous, cynical husband with a persistent case of whiplash... Phillips has perhaps the most fun part in the bunch when his character Lenny is called upon in the second act to concoct a story for the police... The scene calls for an actor able to recite a complicated, winding tale while maintaining just the right pace, animating the story as one who is making it up as he goes along, and all with perfect comedic timing. Phillips carried it off with aplomb on opening night last Tuesday, setting off a heightened round of applause.”
-Elizabeth Warnimont, Benecia Herald
“There is nothing ho-hum about Center REP’s production and, without deningrating other members of the cast, the Tony Award will go to Mark Anderson Phillips for his hilarious performance.”
-Kedar K. Adour, Theatre World Internet Magazine
“Mark Anderson Phillips (Lenny Ganz) and Lynda DiVito (Clair Ganz) steal the show with their remarkable acting skills and dialogue; especially “Lenny” when he tries to recreate the scene in an off-the-cuff fashion for the police, who come late to the party.”
-Jan Miller, Joint Forces Journal
DOUBLE INDEMNITY - San Jose Repertory Theatre . 2012
“Mark Anderson Phillips is marvelously creepy as Lola’s shifty boyfriend Nino, who looks at Walter the way a feasting animal might look at any intruder that could take its meal away. He’s also entertaining as a blithely chatty train passenger and as Walter’s pompous milquetoast boss.”
-Sam Hurwitt, The Idiolect
“...the ever-versatile Mark Anderson Phillips steals the show as Jackson (the man who almost ruins the murder coverup), Norton (the head of the insurance company), and Nino (Lola's smarmy boyfriend who starts shacking up with her stepmother).”
- George Heymont, My Cultural Landscape
“Mark Anderson Phillips is ominously creepy as her lover, blindly arrogant as Huff's boss and comically garrulous as an interloper who almost foils the plot.”
-Robert Hurwitt, SF Chronicle
“Mark Anderson Phillips brings a lot to a series of supporting roles, particularly one as a creepy insurance executive.”
-Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News
“There is flirtatious daughter Lola Nirlinger (Jessica Martin) who harbors revenge; and her mysterious boy friend (Mark Anderson Phillips, always reliable).”
-Clinton Stark, Stark Insider
DOUBLE INDEMNITY - A CONTEMPORARY THEATRE, Seattle . 2011
“Phillips is particularly impressive, to the point where the audience became convinced that there were different actors in each of his roles.”
- Letitia Harmon, Seattle Theater Examiner
“[Mark Anderson Phillips] is incredibly effective and period-evoking in the role of probing insurance lawyer.”
- David-Edward Hughes, Talkin' Broadway
“The best scene of the evening was Ziman in the role of insurance investigator Keyes arguing with Phillips as insurance manager Norton over whether Mr. Nirlinger's death was a suicide or murder.”
- John James DeWitt, BroadwayWorld.com
“Mark Anderson Phillips dispatches three characters with chameleon-like ability and is especially outstanding as Lola’s nasty boyfriend Nino.”
- Miya Cohen-Sieg, Queen Anne News & Magnolia News
“The show...has gasp-worthy spurts of violence, and double-crosses involving Phyllis' innocent stepdaughter Lola (... Jessica Martin) and her smarmy beau Nino (creepy Mark Anderson Phillips).”
- Misha Berson, Seattle Times
“The plot inevitably thickens: Walter hadn't accounted for the adolescent schemes of Phyllis' stepdaughter Lola (Jessice Martin), nor her thuggish Lothario Nino (a chilling Mark Anderson Phillips).”
- Gianni Truzzi, CityArts
“Mark Anderson Phillips created three diverse characters...with excellent technique and plenty of variety.”
- Jerry Kraft, SeattleActor.com
SENSE & SENSIBILITY - TheatreWorks . 2011
“To the redoubtable Colonel Brandon, a somewhat dull character who is considered elderly at 35 and who talks of rheumatism and flannel waistcoats, Mark Anderson Phillips brings such nuance that he eclipses the younger guns.”
- Karen D’Souza, San Jose Mercury News
TINY ALICE - Marin Theatre Company . 2011
“Alice’s trusty butler is always on hand to provide a quirky line or a bit of comfort – and Mark Anderson Phillips is a comfort indeed.
He makes Butler (yes, that’s the butler’s name) as fascinating as everyone else, even though he functions on the periphery of the action.
He, like Julian, seems a little more human than the devils conspiring to win the lay brother’s soul for reasons they won’t divulge until it’s too
late (for Julian).”
- Chad Jones, Theaterdogs
“Mark Anderson Phillips is marvelously funny as the chatty and unhelpful Butler, who's very much at ease in the house and more an inquisitive and coolly sympathetic presence than an actual servant.”
- Sam Hurwitt, Marin Independent Journal
“Mark Anderson Phillips is a marvelously droll butler.”
- Bay City News Service
“...quizzical fifth-dimensional possibilities [are] suggested by Mark Anderson Phillips' slyly otherworldly Butler.”
- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
“Miss Alices’s Butler (Mark Anderson Phillips) is slyly aloof and dryly witty, less a butler and more a co-conspirator. His quirky, stylized mannerisms and cadence of speech give him an otherworldly quality.”
- Suzanne and Greg Angeo, For All Events
“Mark Anderson Phillips, as Alice’s butler, with his wide eyes, crisp gestures and perfectly timed non-sequiturs, could have come straight out of a Chaplin film.”
- Lily Janiak, SF Bay Times
“Mark Anderson Phillips stood out with an impish portrayal of Alice’s butler, who may have more to offer than it seems.”
-Jp Hitesman, Theatrical Buddha Man
“I especially liked Farrell's Cardinal and Phillips's primly menacing Butler.”
-Chris Jensen, SF Weekly
“Butler, oh my, what a scream. I would sometimes lose what else was happening on stage, so caught up was I with Butler’s body language and his less than obvious comments. Oh dear niece, can I keep him, can I , please?”
- Carrie Paff’s Aunt Connie
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS - TheatreWorks . 2011
“Mark Anderson Phillips hops through a series of turns, from the slick attorney to the twitchy coroner and the blustering fisherman, with aplomb.”
- Karen D'Souza, San Jose Mercury News
“Mark Anderson Phillips -- seen recently as Richard Hannay in "The 39 Steps" at TheatreWorks -- is a lot of fun and compelling in several roles, including as the cranky coroner and as the slick prosecutor.”
- John Orr - Daily News
THE 39 STEPS - TheatreWorks . 2011
“I should note that Mark Anderson Phillips in the lead role is a stand-out. We’ve seen him before in other strong performances including Opus (TheatreWorks) and The Weir (San Jose Repertory Theatre), and he’s outstanding again here in a role that requires equal parts physical comedy, charismatic tinsel-town charm, and more than just a tinge of Brit sardonic line delivery. It’s a remarkable performance, and certainly an actor to follow...”
- Clinton Stark - Stark Insider
“[Phillips‘] wry expressions, his eyebrow arching and the casual smoking jacket, pipe smoking and nonchalance define the essence of a bemused, unflappable English gentleman.”
-Keith Kreitman - The Daily Journal
“Phillips' Hannay is as comical as they get on stage. He'll make you laugh and smile from beginning to end.”
-Percival Arcibal - The Oakland Examiner
“Phillips anchors the second half with passionate acting and carries the plot between laughs.”
-Matthew Craggs - San Jose Metro
“Mark Anderson Phillips is wonderful as the square-jawed Hannay, with just the right amount of matter-of-fact self-assurance, employing a perplexed expression or arched eyebrow to great effect. His acting never goes over the top and the accent is spot on.”
- Richard Connema - Talkin’ Broadway
“39 Steps was the shiznit. Go see it.”
-Sedale Enario Salera - Twitter
HAPPY NOW? - Marin Theatre Company . 2010
“Mark Anderson Phillips is terrific as Miles, letting enough nervous uncertainty leak through his obnoxiousness to humanize him.”
- Sam Hurwitt - Marin Independent Journal
“Mark Anderson Phillips is as sad, even empathetic, as he is unlikable in Miles’ self-destructive war against his friends and his marriage.”
- Robert Hurwitt - San Francisco Chronicle
“Johnny’s best friend Miles (a brilliant Mark Anderson Phillips) is a self-destructive alcoholic with a mean streak.”
- David Templeton - Bohemian.com
“Mark Anderson Phillips gives a grand portrayal of the tastily repugnant Miles....”
- Richard Connema - Talkin’ Broadway
OPUS - TheatreWorks . 2010
“Phillips gives a virtuoso performance as Dorian, capturing both the character’s sensitivity, his acute ability to see and hear what others miss, and his instability. It’s as if his skin was removed so he has to walk around with all his nerves exposed. ...Phillips nails the intoxication of the music in his head, the uncontrollable obsession that artists have with their craft. That single-minded fixation is what makes their art worthy of attention, but it’s also the trait that cuts them off from the rest of humanity.”
- Karen D’Souza - San Jose Mercury News
THE WEIR - San Jose Repertory Theatre . 2010
“Phillips beautifully evokes that existential subtext with his monologue about the night he dug a grave in the pelting rain only to encounter a strange figure looming amid the headstones. He depicts the ne’er-do-well Jimmy with such a richly idiosyncratic set of tics and habits (he sits in a crouch and blinks when he’s nervous) that the actor seems to disappear entirely into the character.”
-Karen D’ Souza - San Jose Mercury News
ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S BIG GAY DANCE PARTY - New York Fringe Festival . 2009
“The outstanding cast, led by Mark Anderson Phillips as a big-shot reporter and Michael Phillis as a closeted baker, expertly navigates Loeb’s every tonal shift, from catty comedy, to gut-punch tragedy.”
- Hank Shteamer - Time Out, New York
“Mark Anderson Phillips stands out as Anton, the journalist, effortlessly moving between his veil of wit, covering his feelings, and allowing his passion to show.”
- Michael Mraz - NY Theatre.com
MISS JULIE - Aurora Theatre . 2009
Highest Rating - “Grace and Phillips create a magnetic, multifaceted dance of fear, curiosity, forbidden-fruit flirtation, desire, abandon, recriminations, and sympathy”
-Robert Hurwitt - San Francisco Chronicle
“Phillips seizes the stage with Jean’s cleverness, his loathing of the upper crust that employs him and his overwhelming desire to be part of that privileged world. When Phillips unleashes Jean’s rage, the small Aurora stage is barely enough to contain him.”
- Chad Jones - Theater Dogs
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE - Arizona Theatre Co and San Jose Rep . 2008
“The ‘dominant’ Hyde, played by Mark Anderson Phillips, is part Spiderman (leaping onto walls), part Elephant Man (twisted back and knock knees), a smidge of Golem (‘Evil, evil Henry Jekyll!’) and a lot of fun”
-Marianne Messina, Metroactive
“Mark Anderson Phillips playing Hyde...[is] suitably vicious and hateful--and also darkly, dangerously attractive... Phillips must play Hyde as part snarling cur, part Quasimodo, yet the character’s ultimate moral quandry is not only believeable, but moving.”
-James Reel, Tucson Weekly
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT - San Jose Rep . 2007
“Mark Anderson Phillips... gives a superlative performance as Jamie, an emotional wreck stuck with his constant drinking. His last scene with Edmund is a real tour de force of brilliant acting.”
-Richard Connema, Talkin’ Broadway
SMALL TRAGEDY - Aurora Theatre . 2006
“In Mark Anderson Phillips’ beautifully nuanced portrayal, he’s a compelling, eminently mockable yet strangely empathetic blend of arrogance, gnawing doubt, insights, empty blather, compassion and wickedly vicious outbursts.”
- Robert Hurwitt - San Francisco Chronicle
SALOME - Aurora Theatre . 2006
Highest Rating - “Calderon and Phillips brilliantly navigate one of Wilde’s knottier passages as Salome caroms between passionate attraction and repugnance to a resolute but temptation-shaken Iokanaan.”
-Robert Hurwitt - San Francisco Chronicle
THE LAST SCHWARTZ - Marin Theatre Company . 2004
“Mark Phillips as the autistic Simon is incredible with few lines to speak. He speaks slowly, deliberately and almost in a dreamy fashion. He returns to his own world after each brief conversation. His moves as he simulates a "walk on the moon" are pure artistic motion. It is an extraordinary performance.”
- Richard Connema, Talkin’ Broadway
THE GRAPES OF WRATH - TheatreWorks . 2000
“Mark [Anderson] Phillips keeps his shirt buttoned to his throat, his cap pulled low and his hands shoved deep into his pockets. That’s the only way he can keep from exploding into fury in his transfixing performance as Tom Joad.
...he seems to shoulder the burden of the Depression itself, the soul-breaking despair and loneliness captured in John Steinbeck’s classic 1939 novel.
...Phillips conveys a theatrical urgency, a sense that the collective agony of the 1930’s was lived one hardscrabble life at a time.
...Phillips tells an unforgettable story of his own. ...Phillips’ Tom Joad is the restless, kinetic spirit of this “Grapes of Wrath.””
-Steven Winn - San Francisco Chronicle
“TheatreWorks’ cast, under directors Robert Kelley and Leslie Martinson, is flawless, beginning with Mark [Anderson] Phillips, who plays Tom Joad a little closer to the boiling point (and closer, in fact, to Steinbeck’s original character) than Henry Fonda’s immortal film portrayal. Phillips has a way of speaking -- tight-jawed, with subtle drawing-out of his consonants--that brings a special strength to Tom’s words, as if they were all written in underline.”
-Michael J. Vaughn - Palo Alto Weekly
THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN - TheatreWorks . 2000
“Mark [Anderson] Phillips, in two key scenes as the hotheaded widower Babbybobby, understands and embodies the pain and anger that, I believe, are behind McDonagh’s play.”
-Bob Graham - San Francisco Chronicle
STONES IN HIS POCKETS - Magic Theatre . 1999
“Phillips is terrific -- there’s no strain in his acting or his accents, and as Jake he’s just the type of guy who would attract a screen goddess on location slumming for some local color. (He’s got star power of his own.)”
-Joe Mader - SF Weekly
TRUE WEST - Magic Theatre . 1997
“Mark [Anderson] Phillips is a wonderfully thoughtful and remarkably resilient Austin, the younger brother who’s holed up in his mother’s Southern California home to write his make-or-break screenplay and hold meetings with an important producer. He weighs his choices carefully at first, though the anger he’s successfully learned to control, when it comes out, is surprisingly, aptly, closely related to his brother’s. His drunken descent into hopelessness is portrayed with comically painful detail.”
-Robert Hurwitt - San Francisco Examiner
SELDOM DREAMING - Fingerpaint Cinema . 1996
“The pic works best in glimmers of sardonic humor, best realized by Phillips’ engaging turn.”
-Dennis Harvey - Variety