William Shakespeare, Playwright: No man's life has been the subject of more speculation than William Shakespeare's. For all his fame and celebrity, Shakespeare's personal history remains a mystery. We know a man named William Shakespeare was baptized at Stratford upon Avon on April 26, 1564, and was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford on April 25, 1616. Tradition holds that he was born three days earlier, and that he died on his birthday—April 23—but this is perhaps more romantic myth than fact.
Scholars assume that Shakespeare went to grammar school, since his father was first a member of the Stratford Council and later high bailiff. A grammar school education would have meant that Shakespeare was exposed to the rudiments of Latin rhetoric, logic and literature. Church records tell us that banns (announcements) were published for the marriage of a William Shakespeare to an Ann Whatley in 1582. On November 27 of the same year, a marriage license was granted to 18 year old William and 26 year old Anne Hathaway. A daughter, Susanna, was born to the couple six months later. Twins, Hamnet and Judith, were born soon after. We know that Hamnet died in childhood on August 11, 1596. We don't know how the young Shakespeare came to travel to London or how he first came to the stage.
Whatever the facts may be, it is clear that in the years between 1582 and 1592, William Shakespeare became involved in the London theatre scene as an actor and playwright. By 1594, Shakespeare was listed as a shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, one of the most popular acting companies in London. He was a member of this company for the rest of his career, which lasted until 1611. When James I came to the throne in 1603, he issued a royal license to Shakespeare and his fellow players, inviting them to call themselves the King's Men. In 1608, the King's Men leased the Blackfriar's Theatre in London. This theatre, which had artificial lighting and was probably heated, served as their winter playhouse. The famous Globe Theatre was their summer performance space.
In the years since Shakespeare's death, he has risen from obscurity to the most read, adapted and translated writer of all time. In the 1800s, his plays were so popular that many refused to believe that an actor from Stratford had written them. To this day some believe that Sir Francis Bacon or Edward DeVere, the Earl of Oxford, was the author. Still others prefer to believe that Walter Raleigh or Christopher Marlowe penned the lines attributed to Shakespeare. While most people are content to believe that genius can spring up in any social class or setting, the gap between the known facts and the myths that surround Shakespeare's life leaves ample room for speculation.
Jesse Berger, Director: Jesse is pleased to be directing at Shakespeare Festival St Louis this season. Jesse is founding artistic director of Red Bull Theater in New York, where he has directed Pericles, The Revenger’s Tragedy, Edward II, produced the ongoing OBIE Award-Winning “Revelation Reading” Series, and he will direct Women Beware Women this season. Jesse has directed new plays and classics at Denver Center, The Old Globe, Pittsburgh Public Theater, New York Theater Workshop, SoHo Rep, Theaterworks, Pearl Theatre, Dorset Theatre, at Shakespeare Festivals in the Hamptons, Arizona and Utah, at Washington Shakespeare Company, and more. Jesse was assistant director of The Shakespeare Theatre-DC for three seasons, and has also assistant directed on Broadway. He received the Helen Hayes Award for Directing Marat/Sade, a Directing Fellowship at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, and the NEA/TCG Program for Directors. Jesse has taught and directed at Juilliard, NYU, University of Minnesota/Guthrie, Bard, UT-Austin, The Shakespeare Theatre Academy of Classical Acting, American Academy of Dramatic Art, and others. Jesse trained at Southern Utah University, Central College in London, and began his professional career as an apprentice to Garland Wright at The Guthrie Theater.
Tim Case, Set Designer: Tim painted last year’s production of The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. He is currently the head of theatre design and technology at the University of South Dakota. He has been a professor there for the last twenty-two years. During that time Tim has designed scenery for many theatres throughout the country including The Black Repertory of St. Louis, St. Michael’s Playhouse in Vermont, and The Black Hills Playhouse in Rapid City, South Dakota. Tim has also worked in film and television serving as an assistant art director and scene painter for several films. He enjoys his St. Louis friends and looks forward to his wife, three children and new first grandchild seeing the show.
John Wylie, Lighting Designer: John is the Head of Production at Webster University's Conservatory of Theatre Arts, where he teaches Technical Direction and Lighting. He had so much fun designing the lighting for The Tragedy of King Richard the Third last season that he sat close to the phone during the off season awaiting the phone call from Dawn--which finally came! John has designed for Metro Theatre Company, The St Louis Black Rep, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and later this summer he will be trekking to Vermont to design Barnum for St Michael's Playhouse. John's wife Kim is a playwright. Their two children are known to call the various theaters in town, trying to find their parents...A special thanks to the excellent master electricians around town--Peggy Thierheimer, Doug Schroeder, Buddy Leach, Chris Shetley and Joe Beck (here at the Festival). They make my life so much easier. (This is excerpted from my unused Kevin Kline speech.)
Sara Jean Tosetti, Costume Designer: Sara designed costumes for Manuscript at the Darryl Roth Theatre and The Exonerated (play and court tv film); both pieces were directed by Bob Balaban. Artifice with the dance company Complexions Inc at the New Victory. At the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival she has designed costumes for Richard III, The Rivals, Much Ado about Nothing, Twelfth Night, Antony & Cleopatra, and The Tempest. Other credits include Arcadia and June Moon (directed by Jesse Berger); The Peter Cooper Story (PBS film) Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Dangerous Liaisons (directed by Nick Mangano), ; Tartuffe (directed by Nick Phillipou), Nyuorican Voices (directed by Max Ferrà at INTAR Theatre), The Giver choreographed by Patrick Ferreri and Mindy Myers, and Sediment choreographed by Johannes Wieland at Jacob’s Pillow. Opera, all directed by Marc Astafan: Cendrillon (Central City Opera) Macbeth, The Three Little Pigs (Cnnecticut Opera) an the upcoming Rinaldo (also at CCO),She was the assistant costume designer on Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On at Ceasar's Palace. She holds a BFA and an MFA from Tisch School of the Arts, where she received an Outstanding Achievemnt Award in Theater; and is also a Princess Grace Award recipient.
Paul Dennhardt, Fight and Movement Director: Paul is delighted to return to Shakespeare Festival St. Louis after working on last year's The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. Paul lives in rural Illinois with his lovely spouse and partner, Jean MacFarland Kerr, and their precious daughters, Delia Marie and Linnea MacFarland. INTERNATIONAL: Romeo and Juliet at Taipei National University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan; NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Joseph Papp Public Theatre: The Swan, Henry IV, Parts I & II; Working Theatre: Let Me Live; REGIONAL: Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C: Macbeth, Cyrano, King Lear at Carter Barron, King Lear, Volpone, King John, Henry IV, Coriolanus Romeo and Juliet. Dallas Theater Center: Twelfth Night, Guys and Dolls; Illinois Shakespeare Festival: The Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar, Pericles, Hamlet, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, As You Like It, King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Coriolanus, Loves Labours Lost, Othello, Richard III, The Three Musketeers; Madison Repertory Theatre: The Three Musketeers; VITALIST Theatre: Floating Rhoda and the Glue Man; Sugar Creek Symphony & Song: Romeo and Juliet; Opera Illinois: Faust; Addison Center Theatre: The Illusion. TEACHING: Professor of Theatre, Illinois State University. TRAINING: Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique; Society of American Fight Directors: Fight Director/Certified Teacher; Western Illinois University: MFA in Directing.
Scott Killian, Original Music: Scott has worked on over 20 productions with the Berkshire Theatre Festival, including Candida, Waiting for Godot, A Man for All Seasons, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Night of the Iguana, American Buffalo, Heartbreak House, The Misanthrope, and Awake and Sing. Some of Scott’s Off-Broadway credits include: Manhattan Theatre Club: Sarah, Sarah, Five by Tenn, A Picasso (Lortel nom.), The Other Side; Red Bull Theatre: Women Beware Women, Edward the Second; Rattlestick Theatre: Steve and Idi , Miss Julie. Regional: Alley Theatre: Mrs. Warren’s Profession; Westport Playhouse: Time of My Life, Relatively Speaking, The Drawer Boy; Shakespeare Theatre (DC): Lorenzaccio; Shakespeare & Co.: Othello, Hamlet, Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It; Seattle Rep: The Shaughraun; Alabama Shakespeare Festival: Two Gentlemen of Verona; Huntington Theatre: Cymbeline, Arms and the Man; George Street Playhouse: The Seafarer, Doubt, The Miracle Worker; GEVA: 'Art', Vigil, Tuesdays with Morrie; Theatre Calgary: The Wars (co-prod. with Vancouver Playhouse—“Jessie” Award), A Christmas Carol. In addition to plays, he has composed many scores for contemporary dance, incl. the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Jose Limon Dance Company, Nikolais/Louis Dance and Hubbard Street Dance Chic