Robert co-founded Marin Shakespeare Company and is its original Artistic Director, retiring in 2022. He holds a BA in Drama and an MFA in Directing from U.C. Irvine, where he helped establish the Objective Drama Project with the legendary theatrical guru Jerzy Grotowski. An award-winning actor, director, writer and designer, Robert co-founded Encounter With the Theatre at the Woodstock Illinois Opera House in 1971, and the still thriving Ukiah Players Theatre in 1977 and Baja Shakespeare in Los Barriles, Mexico in 2001. He has received lifetime achievement awards from Theatre Bay Area and the Heart of Marin.