TiTus andronicus - Stratford Festival

TOM PATTERSON 

Theatre 

JUNE 23 TO 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 

OPENS JULY 14 

From left: Amanda Lisman, 

John Vickery, Dion Johnstone, 

Claire Lautier 

Titus andronicus 

By William Shakespeare 

Directed by Darko Tresnjak 

Production support generously provided by 

M.E.H. Foundation 

Follow the conversation on Twitter #SSFTitus 

Antoni Cimolino 

General Director 

Des McAnuff 

Artistic Director

let us take you on 

an adventure! 

Great stories transcend time and place. Whatever country or century gave 

them their birth, they speak to us here and now, their power to move or 

delight us recharged with each telling, their insights as pertinent to the world 

we live in as the latest work of a dramatist today. 

our 2011 playbill opens doors to vistas both familiar and exotic, from 

shakespeare’s illyria to the American dust Bowl, from contemporary 

canada to the legendary realm of camelot. each of the dramatic 

worlds created on our stages embodies universal aspects of 

the human heart and the human soul; each invites you into an 

extraordinary adventure we hope you will never forget. 

Artistic director 

GeNerAL director 

The 2011 season is dedicated to the memory of 

Michael Langham, Artistic Director from 1956 to 1967. 

scan with your smartphone for a 

free ring tone from our new 2011 

season song: Show Time! 

1

Rough Justice in a 

Moral Wilderness 

by Margaret Jane Kidnie 

Below | Director Darko Tresnjak (wearing cap) in Rehearsal with 

Claire Lautier (Tamora) and Sean Arbuckle (Saturninus). 

Facing page, from top| John Vickery (Titus Andronicus) and Paul Fauteux 

(Lucius); Amanda Lisman (Lavinia); Darko Tresnjak. 

Following page | Dion Johnstone (Aaron); John Vickery and 

Amanda Lisman; members of the company. 

Photography by Erin Samuell. 

In 1590, Thomas Kyd successfully adapted the 

conventions of Senecan revenge tragedy – a form 

created by the Roman dramatist Lucius Annaeus 

Seneca in the first century AD – to the English 

early modern stage. The Spanish Tragedy, starring 

Hieronimo, a father and courtier who seeks to 

revenge the murder of his son, was an instant 

box-office hit for the Admiral’s Men, and it was 

the third most popular play at the Rose Theatre 

between 1592 and 1597. As late as 1630, Richard 

Brathwaite tells the story of the dangerously 

ill woman who was enjoined on her deathbed 

to call on the Lord but instead shouted out to 

see “Hieronimo” played one more time. While 

2

the anecdote is probably apocryphal, it gives a 

vivid sense of the popularity of Kyd’s tragedy. 

The various professional theatre companies in 

Shakespeare’s England constantly competed 

for spectators, and Kyd’s success with the genre 

prompted a surge of new plays that sought to 

cash in on a sudden interest in revenge tragedy. 

This is the context in which Shakespeare wrote 

his first Roman play, Titus Andronicus, in about 

1594. Unlike later tragedies such as Antony and 

Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, Titus offers an entirely 

fictionalized account of the classical world. None 

of these characters had a real-life existence, and 

the situations that befall them are the products of 

Shakespeare’s imagination. And yet the generic 

shape of the action would have been familiar to 

audience members who knew, or knew of, The 

Spanish Tragedy. Crimes are committed against 

both Titus and his family, but corruption at the 

highest levels of state prevents him from attaining 

justice through usual means. Like Hieronimo before 

him, Titus is therefore driven to take matters into his 

own hands, the strain of his circumstances leading 

to bouts of mental instability before his revenge is 

finally enacted. 

A major feature of Senecan tragedy, especially 

as it was developed for early modern audiences, 

is its concern with the morality of revenge. How 

should one respond to crimes committed against 

oneself or one’s family, especially if the ruling 

powers are either corrupt or ineffective, or both? 

Shakespeare’s spectators were well familiar with 

Biblical sanctions against revenge – “Vindicti mihi; 

Revenge is mine, saith the Lord” – and audiences 

would have recognized that, by taking justice into 

their own hands, stage revengers were setting 

themselves beyond both secular and religious 

sanction. Francis Bacon, for example, described 

revenge in Shakespeare’s own time as “a kind of 

wild justice.” And yet not to act in the circumstances 

seems inconceivable. It’s in this space left by the 

personal imperative to right a perceived wrong, 

and the social obligation to leave justice to a higher 

authority that the action unfolds. 

Shakespeare, perhaps wanting to set himself 

apart from the competition, took the revenge 

conventions as they came to him and pushed 

them to an extreme. The visceral violence of this 

early tragedy can be shocking even today. About 

mid-way through the action, Aaron enters to tell 

Titus and his family that if one of them will chop off 

3

his hand, the Emperor Saturninus will pardon the 

lives of Titus’s two sons, condemned for murder. 

This pointless sacrifice, typical of the play’s cruelty 

– of what benefit could an amputated hand be 

to the Emperor? – is nonetheless clutched at by 

the Andronici. Titus’s son, Lucius, and his brother, 

Marcus, exit the stage to get an axe, each vying 

to use it. Titus, however, enlists Aaron’s help to 

prevent them: “Lend me thy hand, and I will give 

thee mine.” The bald stage direction that follows, 

“He cuts off Titus’ hand,” can’t do justice to the 

effect of seeing this moment in performance. 

The revelation that comes shortly after, that the 

amputation was for nothing, marks the play’s 

turning point, finally transforming Titus into the 

socially alienated revenger who finds he has “much 

to do.” Describing Rome as “a wilderness of tigers,” 

Titus abandons allegiance to the Roman empire in 

order to avenge the family he cannot protect. 

Significantly, especially in light of the moral 

complexities associated with revenge drama, 

spectators witnessed a very similar motivation to 

revenge much earlier in the action. Tamora, Queen 

of the Goths, vainly pleads with the triumphant 

warrior in the opening scene for her eldest son’s 

life. Titus, however, is immovable. His own sons 

have, at least to his mind, justly asked for a human 

sacrifice to the Roman gods, and he has granted 

them “the noblest that survives, / The eldest son 

of this distressed queen.” Tamora and her two 

surviving sons, left onstage as Alarbus is taken off 

to his death, describe this ritual as an irreligious, 

barbarous piety. Like Titus, Tamora is unable to 

protect her family, and like Titus, she vows revenge. 

From the very outset of the action, then, 

Shakespeare presents the “just” action as an 

uncertain, or at least contested, thing, with the 

Roman citizens, no less than the foreign Goths they 

bring home as prisoners, described as barbaric. Is 

Titus’s sacrifice of Alarbus a justifiable motivation 

for revenge on Tamora’s part? And what constitutes 

the “just” revenge? By locating the origin of the 

play’s revenge cycle with a potential crime, or at 

least cruelty, committed by Titus, Shakespeare 

renders problematic his audience’s moral stance 

on the atrocities that follow, whether committed by 

Goth or Roman. 

Margaret Jane Kidnie is a professor of English at 

the University of Western Ontario. 

4

What Book Is That? 

by David Prosser 

In the fourth act of Titus Andronicus, Lavinia 

frantically tries to pick up a book that her nephew, 

Young Lucius, has dropped on the ground. “Lucius, 

what book is that she tosseth so?” inquires 

Titus. “Grandsire,” the boy replies, “’Tis Ovid’s 

Metamorphoses. My mother gave it me.” 

The Metamorphoses, an epic work in fifteen 

books by the ancient Roman poet Publius Ovidius 

Naso (better known to us as Ovid), purports to tell 

the history of the world through a compendium 

of tales from classical mythology, each of which 

involves some kind of transformation. Written in the 

first century AD, it became one of the most popular 

works of classical antiquity and was still widely 

revered in Elizabethan times – when it served as 

one of the most significant literary influences on 

Shakespeare’s art. 

As a schoolboy, Shakespeare would have 

studied at least parts of the Metamorphoses in the 

original Latin; he was evidently also familiar with an 

English translation published in 1567. Most of the 

classical allusions that abound in his poetry and 

plays come from the Metamorphoses – including 

the tragic story of Pyramus and Thisbe, which he 

so hilariously burlesques in A Midsummer Night’s 

Dream. Such incidents as the tormenting of Falstaff 

at Herne’s Oak in The Merry Wives of Windsor and 

the apparent coming to life of Hermione’s statue 

in The Winter’s Tale also have their roots in Ovid’s 

recounting of classical mythology. 

Lavinia’s specific interest is in Book VI of the 

Metamorphoses, which includes the story of 

Philomela and her sister Procne, princesses of 

Athens, and Procne’s husband, Tereus, King of 

Thrace. Ovid describes how Tereus, possessed by 

lust for Philomela, abducted her and imprisoned 

her in a stronghold deep within a forest, where he 

Publius Ovidius Naso (ovid), 43 BC – 17 AD 

raped her and then cut out her tongue to prevent 

her from revealing his crime. However, Philomela 

managed to weave an account of her violation into 

a tapestry and sent it to Procne, who came to her 

rescue. The sisters then concocted a gruesome 

revenge – the nature of which finds an obvious 

parallel in Titus Andronicus. 

Afterwards, the gods prevented further violence 

by transforming all three into birds: in Ovid’s version 

of the myth, Procne became a nightingale and 

Philomela a swallow, while Tereus was turned into a 

hoopoe, or lapwing. 

The lines spoken by Lavinia in the voiceover 

you will hear at the end of this production of Titus 

Andronicus come not from Shakespeare’s play but 

from the Metamorphoses: they are Philomela’s final 

words of defiance before her voice is forever stilled. 

David Prosser is Director of Communications for 

the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. 

The Story 

The brothers Saturninus and Bassianus are vying to become emperor of Rome when the general 

Titus Andronicus returns victorious from a campaign against the Goths. He brings with him as captives 

Tamora, queen of the Goths; her lover, Aaron; and her sons, Chiron, Demetrius and Alarbus, the last of 

whom Titus offers up as a human sacrifice – thereby setting in motion a horrific cycle of revenge. 

5

Ideas and Insights 

ArcelorMittal Dofasco applauds the artists, artisans 

and staff behind every outstanding experience at the 

Stratford Shakespeare Festival. 

A Precisely Plotted 

Dance of Death 

Yes, the violence in Titus Andronicus is extreme. It 

is also essential. 

Without it, Shakespeare could not begin to 

address the timeless questions of his first tragedy: 

Why do good people turn to revenge? Is revenge 

ever justified? And are people who resort to 

revenge still good people? In order to tackle these 

questions, it is not enough to create a universe in 

which all pleas to men are mocked and all prayers 

to the gods are unanswered. One also has to 

expose the characters to ultimate cruelty. In Titus 

Andronicus, it takes many immoral acts to start 

asking a few moral questions. 

For me, the most fascinating aspect of this 

gruesome play is that it is also very funny and 

very beautiful. 

The play oscillates between acts of violence, 

intentionally dreadful puns and gorgeous, 

incantatory speeches. And both the ghastly humour 

and the ravishing imagery emerge in seemingly 

the most inopportune places, uttered by both the 

perpetrators and the victims. Why? For some, this is 

a sign that the young Shakespeare is still perfecting 

his craft. For others, it is a brilliant dramatic strategy. 

By resorting to humour and beauty, by daring 

to make us laugh and sigh amid the carnage, 

Shakespeare makes the audience complicit. 

Several months ago, someone asked me: 

which Shakespeare play is most similar to Titus 

Andronicus? Without hesitation, I answered “Love’s 

Labour’s Lost.” The next second, I realized that 

everyone would think that I was insane. And 

the second after that, I decided to stick to my 

crazy answer. 

I think of these two plays as bookends, 

Shakespeare’s most formal experiments in comedy 

and tragedy. Love’s Labour’s Lost and Titus 

Andronicus are practically choreographed on the 

page – precisely and intricately plotted dances of 

love and death, rounds of seduction and revenge, 

respectively. And in the case of Titus Andronicus, 

the elegance of its danse macabre construction 

only heightens the horror of its impact. 

Darko Tresnjak 

Director 

costume Design For LAVINiA by LINDA CHO. 

costume Design For TItus Andronicus by LINDA CHO. 

6

Titus Andronicus 

by William Shakespeare 

This production is dedicated to the memory of 

Domini Blythe. 

Artistic Credits 

Director 

Set Designer 

Costume Designer 

Lighting Designer 

Sound Designer 

Associate Costume Designer 

Dramaturge 

Fight Director 

Assistant Director 

Assistant Designer 

Assistant Lighting Designer 

Assistant Fight Director 

Fight Captain 

Stunt Captain 

Stage Manager 

Assistant Stage Manager 

Apprentice Stage Manager 

Production Assistant 

Production Stage Managers 

Technical Director 

The Cast 



Linda Cho 

itai Erdal 

Lindsay Jones 

Joshua Pearson 

Suzanne Turnbull 

Simon Fon 

Varrick Grimes 

Sean Mulcahy 

Jennifer Lennon 

casey Hudecki 

bruce Godfree 

wayne Best 

Kim Lott 

Emma Laird 

Jessica Stinson 

Genevieve Magtoto 

Janine Ralph, 

Maxwell T. Wilson 

Sean Hirtle 

Romans: 

Saturninus, older son of the 

deceased Emperor Sean Arbuckle 

Bassianus, his brother Skye Brandon 

Marcus Andronicus, 

a tribune of the people David Ferry 

Titus Andronicus, 

his brother, a general John Vickery 

Lucius, oldest son of Titus Paul Fauteux 

Quintus, son of Titus 

Josh Epstein 

Martius, son of Titus 

Dylan Trowbridge 

Mutius, son of Titus 

Cyrus Lane 

Young Lucius, grandson of Titus Talen de St. Croix 

Lavinia, only daughter of Titus Amanda Lisman 

Publius, son of Marcus Cyrus Lane 

Caius, kinsman of the Andronici Josh Epstein 

Sempronius, kinsman of 

the Andronici 


High Priestess 

Priestess 

Tribunes 

Bodyguards 

Whores 

Maids 

Clown 

Goths: 

Tamora, Queen of the Goths 

Alarbus, oldest son of Tamora 

Chiron, son of Tamora 

Demetrius, son of Tamora 

Nurse 

Goth Leader 

Second Goth 

Third Goth 

Goth Army 

Moors: 

Aaron, Tamora’s lover 

Carmen Grant 

Ashleigh Hendry 

Wayne Best, 

Skye Brandon, 

David Collins, 

Bruce Godfree, 

Brendan Murray, 

Michael Spencer-Davis 

Wayne Best, 

David Collins, 

Cyrus Lane, 

E.B. Smith 

Josh Epstein, 

Carmen Grant, 


Carmen Grant, 




E.B. Smith 

Brendan Murray 

Bruce Godfree 

Roberta Maxwell 

Wayne Best 

David Collins 

Skye Brandon 

Josh Epstein, 

Michael Spencer-Davis, 


Dion Johnstone 

Understudies 

Wayne Best (Titus Andronicus), Skye Brandon (Caius, 

Sempronius, Clown), David Collins (Alarbus), 

Josh Epstein (Demetrius), Carmen Grant (Tamora, 

Nurse), Ashleigh Hendry (Lavinia, Quintus, Mutius, 

Martius), Cyrus Lane (Bassianus, Lucius), Christian Palte 

(Young Lucius), E.B. Smith (Aaron), 

Michael Spencer-Davis (Marcus Andronicus), 

Dylan Trowbridge (Saturninus, Publius) 

Interval 

There will be one interval of 15 minutes. 

Audience Alert 

This production includes haze, live flame and 

loud noises. 

7

Production Credits 

Responsibilities backstage during the performance accomplished by: 

Stage Carpenter 

Paul Gorman 

Master Electrician 

Timothy Hanson 

Property Master 

Alan Hughes 

Head of Sound 

Jim Stewart 

Wardrobe Mistress 

Helen Basson 

Wardrobe Attendants John Bynum, Inez Khan, 

Jane Mallory 

Swing 

Emma Pawluk 

Wigs and Makeup Show Head Julie Scott 

Wigs and Makeup Crew Angela Moncur 

Children’s Supervisor Alice O’Connor 

Acknowledgements 

Special thanks to Norman Cruz, MD, Stratford; 

Jennifer Anderson, MD, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto; 

Brian Hands, MD, FRCS (C), medical voice consultant, 

Vox Cura voice care specialists, Toronto; Simon 

McBride, MCISc, MD, London Health Sciences Centre 

vocal function clinic, London, Ontario; 

John Yoo, MD, London Health Sciences Centre, London, 

Ontario. Pianos tuned and maintained by 

Don Stephenson. 

Front cover image provided by STEAMco., creative 

advertising agency for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. 

Front cover and page 1 photography by Andrew Eccles. 

costume Designs by LINDA CHO. 

The Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre 

From General Director Antoni Cimolino and Artistic Director Des McAnuff 

Thirty-two members of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s 2011 company have come out of our 

professional training program, now known as the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. 

Founded in 1998, the Conservatory has helped to launch the careers of some of our leading young 

actors, many of whom we have had the great pleasure of directing. Providing opportunities for young 

Canadian artists is part of our mission at the Festival, and we hope you will find it as satisfying as we 

do to watch their growth as they share the stage with some of the finest actors in the world. 

Under the leadership of Martha Henry, the Conservatory is made possible by the support of the Birmingham 

family, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Endowment Foundation and the Department of Canadian Heritage. 

We thank them for helping us to nurture and support these talented artists in our 2011 company: 

Skye Brandon 08/09 

Evan Buliung 99 

Shane Carty 03 

Dan Chameroy 03 

Laura Condlln 04 

Victor Dolhai 10 

Miranda Edwards 10 

Josh Epstein 10 

Martha Farrell 04 

Paul Fauteux 02 

Bruce Godfree 09/10 

Carmen Grant 10 

Ashleigh Hendry 10 

Dion Johnstone 03 

Chilina Kennedy 09 

Sarah Kitz 10 

Ian Lake 07/08 

Amanda Lisman 09 

Keira Loughran 05 (new plays) 

Kennedy C. MacKinnon 99 (voice coach) 

Brendan Murray 00 

Paul Nolan 09 

Trent Pardy 07/08 

Gareth Potter 03 

Christopher Prentice 08/09 

Andrea Runge 09 

Tyrone Savage 10 

E.B. Smith 10 

Evan Stillwater 04 (tailor) 

Sara Topham 00 

Dylan Trowbridge 10 

Sophia Walker 05 

8

Director of Production 

Production 

John Tiggeloven 

Technical Director – Scenic Construction Andrew Mestern 

Wardrobe Manager 

Anne Moore 

Production Administrator 

Cheryl Bender 

Design Coordinator 

Alix Dolgoy 

Assistant Technical Director 

David Campbell 

Technical Management Assistant Michael Besworth 

Administrative Assistant 

Cindy Jordan 

Resident Sound Designer 

Peter McBoyle 

Director of Music 

Rick Fox 

Music Administrator 

Marilyn Dallman 

Electronics Technologist 

Chris Wheeler 

Transportation 

Charlie Fox, Ian A. Fraser, 

Michael Taylor, James Thistle 

Properties 

Head of Properties 

Lead Builder 

Assisted by 

Properties Buyer 

Assistant Properties Buyer 

Scenic Art 

Head Scenic Artist 

Assistant Head Scenic Artist 

Assisted by 

Scenic Carpentry 

Head Carpenter 

Head of Automation 

Lead Hand 

Assisted by 

Dona Hrabluk 

Eric Ball 

Lucas Commerford, 

Ken Dubblestyne, 

Carolyn Horley, 

Michelle Jamieson, 

Shirley Lee, 

Jennifer Macdonald, 

Brian McLeod, Dylan Mundy, 

Heather Ruthig, 

Jennifer Stevens, 

Elizabeth Thomas 

Tracy Fulton 

Penelope Schledewitz 

Christopher Klein 

Daniel McManus 

Kevin Kemp, Amparo Patterson, 

Lisa Summers, Laurie Tomé, 

Jo-Anne Vezina, Blair Yeomans 

Neil R. Cheney 

Ian Phillips 

mark Smith 

Mark Card, Ryan Flanagan, 

Gary Geiger, 

John Roth, Joe Saunders, 

Cliff Tipping, Joe Tracey 

Wardrobe 

Head of Wardrobe 

Assistant Head of Wardrobe 

Seasonal Wardrobe Supervisor 

Cutters 

Junior Cutter 

First Hands 

Sewers 

Bijoux/Decoration 

Assisted by 

Boots and Shoes 

Assisted by 

Costume Painting 

Dyeing 

Assisted by 

Millinery 

Assisted by 

Wardrobe Buyer 

Assistant Buyer 

Wardrobe Apprentice 

Warehouse Supervisor 

Warehouse Assistant 

Wigs and Makeup 

Head of Wigs and Makeup 

Construction Lead Hand 

Construction Crew 

Bradley Dalcourt 

Elizabeth Copeman 

Linda Sparks 

Anna Baines, Johanna Billings, 

Kim Crossley 

Jennie Wonnacott 

Joanne Davies, 

Gina Schellenberg, 

Patricia Taylor 

Monica Berg, Amelia Berzins, 

Caroline Broadley, 

Cindy Brown, 

Samantha Crossley, 

Lisa Farinaccio, 

Sharon Gashgarian, June Gunn, 

Debbie Kschesinski, Anna Lach, 

Paulette Laporte, 

Deborah S. Lount, Lisa Menzel, 

Krista Nauman, 

Marianne van den Heuvel, 

Rebecca Zimmerman 

Kathi Posliff 

Rebecca Dillow, 

Liane Guttadauria, 

Tami MacDonald 

Sarah Cook 

Karen Beames, Mark Fetter, 

Connie Puetz 

Lisa Hughes 

Linda Pinhay 

Sylvia Minarcin 

Kaz Maxine 

Isabel Bloor, Thea C. Crawford, 

Helen Flower 

Michelle Ashbourne 

Caitlin Luxford 

Samantha Aylsworth 

Madonna Decker 

Valerie Lariviere 

Gerald Altenburg 

julie Scott 

Jessica Elsbrie, 

Lena G. Festoso, 

Tracy Frayne, 

Dave Kerr, Linda Langenegger, 

Barb Newbery, 

Alana Scheel, Stanley Wickens 

The Michael Langham Workshop for 

Classical Direction 

“The Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction will continue 

Michael Langham’s tradition of mentorship in a risk-free environment, 

allowing directors to develop their craft with the rich history and evolving 

artistry of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.” 

– Des McAnuff 

We extend our thanks to the Department of Canadian Heritage, 

the Philip and Berthe Morton Foundation and Johanna Metcalf. 

Participants in the 

2011 workshop: 

Sharon Bajer 

Eric Benson 

Dian Marie Bridge 

Heather Davies 

Alan Dilworth 


Thomas Morgan Jones 

Rachel Peake 

Andrew Shaver 

Rachel Slaven 

Lezlie Wade 

Funding for artisan apprenticeships is provided by the William H. 

Somerville Theatre Artisan Apprenticeship Fund, funded by the J. P. 

Bickell Foundation, and by Robert and Jacqueline Sperandio. 

A member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, the 

Stratford Shakespeare Festival engages, under the terms of the Canadian 

Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian 

Actors’ Equity Association. Stage crew, scenic carpenters, drivers, wigs 

and makeup attendants and facilities staff are members of Local 357 

of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). 

Wardrobe attendants are members of IATSE Local 924. Scenic artists are 

members of IATSE Local 828. The Festival acknowledges with thanks the 

co-operation of the Stratford Musicians’ Association, Local 418 of the 

American Federation of Musicians. 

9

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William Shakespeare 

Playwright 

Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, William 

Shakespeare was the eldest son of John 

Shakespeare, a glover and tanner who rose to 

become an alderman and bailiff of the town, and 

Mary Arden, the daughter of a wealthy farmer. The 

exact date of his birth is unknown, but there is a 

record of his baptism on April 26. Since an interval 

of two or three days between birth and baptism 

would have been quite common, tradition has it 

that he was born on April 23 – the same date as his 

death fifty-two years later. 

The young Shakespeare is assumed to have 

attended what is now the Edward VI Grammar 

School in Stratford, where he would have studied 

ancient Roman literature in its original Latin. In 1582, 

when he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, 

a farmer’s daughter who was eight years his senior. 

Anne was pregnant at the time, and the couple’s 

first daughter, Susanna, was born a few months 

afterwards in 1583. Twins followed two years later: a 

son, Hamnet, who died at the age of eleven, and a 

second daughter, Judith. 

Nothing further is known of Shakespeare’s 

life until 1592, by which time he was sufficiently 

established as an actor and writer in London to be 

the target of a literary attack by a jealous fellow 

playwright, Robert Greene. Soon afterwards, an 

outbreak of plague forced the temporary closure of 

the theatres, and Shakespeare turned his attention 

instead to his long narrative poems Venus and 

Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. He also began 

writing the Sonnets, a series of 154 love poems that 

many believe to be at least partly autobiographical. 

By 1594, Shakespeare was back in the theatre, 

writing and acting for the Lord Chamberlain’s 

Men. His income as one of the country’s most 

successful dramatists enabled him, in 1597, to buy a 

mansion back in Stratford, and in 1599 he became a 

shareholder in London’s newly built Globe Theatre. 

In 1603, Shakespeare’s company was awarded a 

royal patent, becoming known as the King’s Men. 

Possibly as early as 1610, the playwright retired 

to his home in Stratford-upon-Avon, living there 

until his death on April 23, 1616. He is buried in the 

town’s Holy Trinity Church. 

William Shakespeare 

11

The Company 

Sean Arbuckle 

10th season: Sir William Catesby in Richard III and Saturninus in Titus 

Andronicus. Stratford: Cabaret (Cliff), Three Sisters (Tuzenbach), The 

Winter’s Tale (Camillo), The Merchant of Venice (Bassanio), Who’s Afraid 

of Virginia Woolf? (Nick), The Swanne (Leopold/Popple), Twelfth Night 

(Orsino), London Assurance (Dazzle), Macbeth (Banquo), The Trojan Women 

(Talthybius), Electra (The Beggar), As You Like It (Oliver), The Tempest 

(Antonio), Timon of Athens (Alcibiades). Elsewhere: Broadway: The Importance of Being 

Earnest. National tour: Copenhagen. Regional: The Turn of the Screw (Grand Theatre); 

Phèdre (ACT); Humble Boy, Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Pioneer Theatre Company); The 

Magnificent Ambersons (Indiana Rep); The Spitfire Grill (George Street Playhouse – world 

première); King John (Shakespeare Theatre Company); The Triumph of Love (Walnut Street); 

The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (Dallas Theater Center); Woman in Mind (Berkshire 

Theatre Festival). TV: Law & Order, Sex and the City, Hope and Faith. Training: Juilliard. 

Talen de St. Croix 

Stratford debut: Young Lucius in Titus Andronicus. Elsewhere: This is 

Talen’s fourth production. He performed the role of Oliver in Theatre 

Norfolk’s production of Oliver! this winter. He performed as Chip in Theatre 

Norfolk’s production of Beauty and the Beast last spring, as well as in 

Brantford Collegiate Institute’s musical. Talen has a passion for theatre, 

and loves to act, sing and dance. Et cetera: When Talen is off stage he is 

involved in many sports, including lacrosse and ski racing. Talen is on the Holimont Ski Team 

in Ellicottville, N.Y., where he is a competitive downhill ski racer. He lives in Brantford and 

is very excited to have the opportunity to work with everyone involved with the Stratford 

Shakespeare Festival this season. 

Wayne Best 

16th season: Duke of Buckingham in Richard III and appears in Titus 

Andronicus. Stratford: Boatswain (The Tempest), Antonio (The Two 

Gentlemen of Verona), Caliban (The Tempest), Mercutio (Romeo and 

Juliet), Leontes (The Winter’s Tale), Fluellen (Henry V), Victor (Private Lives), 

Horatio (Hamlet), Astrov (Uncle Vanya), Macduff (Macbeth), Gratiano (The 

Merchant of Venice), Cornwall (King Lear), Grumio (The Taming of the 

Shrew), Enobarbus (Antony and Cleopatra), Ben (Good Mother), Maurice (In the Ring), Le Bret 

(Cyrano de Bergerac). Elsewhere: Carl (Heaven), Abbott (Inexpressible Island), Antonio (The 

Tempest), Brutus (Julius Caesar), Billy (The Collected Works of Billy the Kid), Johnny Regan 

(Balconville), Captain Keller (The Miracle Worker), Quinn (The Affections of May), Jacob 

Mercer (Of the Fields, Lately), Jacob Mercer (Salt-Water Moon). 

Josh Epstein 

Stratford debut: Quintus in Titus Andronicus and appears in The Grapes of 

Wrath. Elsewhere: Barfee in The 25th Annual ... Spelling Bee (Belfry, Arts 

Club – Ovation nomination), Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Playhouse 

– Jessie and Ovation nominations), Studies in Motion (Electric Company 

– Canadian tour), Leo in The Producers (Arts Club – Ovation Award), three 

seasons at Bard on the Beach, The Drowsy Chaperone (Citadel, NAC), 

Death of a Salesman (Aquarius), Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors (Stage West), The Lord of 

the Rings (Mirvish) and a recent European tour of his solo show. Film/TV: Hairspray, Breaker 

High, So Weird, The X-Files. Josh recently formed the film production company Motion 58 

(www.motion58.com), whose films include the 2010 NSI Drama Prize, Bravo!FACT and NFB 

winner Wait for Rain, and two features in development. Training: Studio 58, Birmingham 

Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Website: www.joshepsteinonline.com. Et cetera: 

“4mydad.” 

Skye Brandon 

Third season: Duke of Norfolk in Richard III and Bassianus in Titus 

Andronicus. Stratford: The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar and Bartholomew Fair. Elsewhere: 

Reflections/The Little Prince, Mary’s Wedding (Dancing Sky Theatre); The 

Pillowman, Fat Pig (Wild Side Productions); Henry IV, Part 1, The Tempest, 

The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan); Chimera 

(PTE); Julius Caesar, The Shape of Things (Theatre Ecstasis); Twelfth Night (Globe Theatre); 

The Coronation Voyage, It’s All True (Last Exit Theatre). Directing credits include Pageant 

(Last Exit) and The Busy World is Hushed (Northern Light Theatre). Radio: Yann Martel’s The 

Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (CBC). Training: Birmingham Conservatory, ACT 

(San Francisco), U of S (BFA Honours). Awards: SAT Award (Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, 

Dancing Sky), Sterling nomination (The Credeaux Canvas, Northern Light), Equity Emerging 

Artist 2005. 

Itai Erdal 

Stratford debut: Lighting designer of Titus Andronicus. Elsewhere: 

Sweeney Todd (Citadel Theatre); Where the Blood Mixes, A Christmas Carol, 

Vincent in Brixton (Vancouver Playhouse); Troilus and Cressida, The Winter’s 

Tale (Bard on the Beach); Billy Bishop Goes to War, The Life Inside (Belfry 

Theatre); 16 Up, Dirty Kissing, Time for the Good Looking Boy (Box Clever, 

London); Crime and Punishment, My Name is Rachel Corrie (Neworld 

Theatre); The One That Got Away (Electric Company/NAC). Awards: Dora Award and the 

design award in the Dublin Fringe for The Four Horsemen Project, Volcano Theatre; the 

ADC’s Jack King Award; Jessie Awards for most promising newcomer and Life Savers, Ruby 

Slippers. Website: www.itaierdal.com. Et cetera: Itai recently co-wrote and performed in 

How to Disappear Completely for the Chop Theatre. 

Linda Cho 

Stratford debut: Costume designer of Titus Andronicus. New York: 

Manhattan Theatre Club, Theatre for a New Audience, Second Stage 

Theatre, Juilliard School, Vineyard Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, 

Atlantic Theater Company, Lincoln Center Theater, Classic Stage Company. 

Regional Theatre: The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, Huntington Theatre 

Company, Hartford Stage, The Goodman Theatre, The Old Globe, Chicago 

Shakespeare, Baltimore Center Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Goodspeed 

Musicals, Yale Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage, Williamstown 

Theatre Festival, Westport Country Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Dallas Theater Center. 

Opera: Los Angeles Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis. International: Royal 

Shakespeare Company; Canadian Stage; Hong Kong Performing Arts Centre; National 

Theater, Taipei; Repercussion Theatre, Canada. Training: MFA Yale School of Drama. 

Paul Fauteux 

Second season: Sir James Tyrrel in Richard III and Lucius in Titus 

Andronicus. Stratford: Cecco in Peter Pan and Stringer in King of 

Thieves. Birmingham Conservatory. Elsewhere: The Ends of the Earth / 

Belfry Theatre; The Pillowman, Tillsonburg / Canadian Stage; Scorched 

/ Tarragon Theatre and NAC; That Time / Theatre Centre; Dr. Chekhov: 

Ward 6 / Factory Theatre; Cringeworthy, Boxhead and The Kabbalistic 

Psychoanalysis of Adam R. Tzaddik / Theatre Passe Muraille; Kaspar / Go Chicken Go. 

Film/TV: Committed, Rookie Blue, The Sea Wolf, This Is Wonderland, Missing, Flashpoint, 

Hustle: The Pete Rose Story, Chasing Cain, Due South, L’Ombre de l’épervier. Radio: 

Dean Donaldson on CBC radio drama Afghanada. Training: UVic and the National Theatre 

School of Canada. Awards: Five Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations. One ACTRA Award 

nomination. Et cetera: Paul lives in Toronto with his wife, Camille, their son, Hanlon, and their 

daughter, Illia. 

David Collins 

Fourth season: Lord Rivers in Richard III and appears in Titus Andronicus. 

Stratford: Recent: Francisco (The Tempest), Host (The Two Gentlemen of 

Verona), Seyton (Macbeth), Publius (Julius Caesar), Apothecary (Romeo 

and Juliet), Theodotus (Caesar and Cleopatra). Elsewhere: Shakuntala 

(Premiere Dance Theatre); The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God 

(Mirvish); The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Donut City (Canadian Stage); 

Pusha Man, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Theatre Passe Muraille); The Taming of the Shrew 

(ShakespeareWorks); Top Gun the Musical (Factory Theatre/N.Y.C.); El Paso (Factory); Romeo 

and Juliet (Shakespeare in Action); Walls (VECC). He is a founding member of Obsidian 

Theatre Company. Film/TV: Trojan Horse, 11Cameras, ReGenesis, Owning Mahowny, Shoot 

’Em Up, The Incredible Hulk, MVP, Warehouse 13, Nurse.Fighter.Boy, The Listener, Rookie 

Blue, XIII, Stag, Against the Wall. Training: MFA, York University. Awards: Dora nominations 

for Twilight Café and The America Play. 

David Ferry 

Fifth season: King Edward IV in Richard III and Marcus Andronicus in Titus 

Andronicus. Stratford: Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1; Dogberry in Much Ado; 

Dumaine in Love’s Labour’s Lost; Fair Liberty’s Call; Ahab in Moby Dick. 

Elsewhere: Most recently he reprised his Dora-nominated performance 

in Eternal Hydra (Crow’s Theatre) and was praised for his work in Blasted 

(Buddies in Bad Times). He won a 2009 Dora (best actor) for his work in 

Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me and the Critics Choice best-actor award in Victoria for his 

Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. Film/TV: His second season of Dan for Mayor is airing 

now on CTV. Awards: He has also won a best-director Dora and a best-lighting Dora. Et 

cetera: David has directed in Canada and in Italy, most recently with the première of Daniel 

MacIvor’s Inside. Website: www.davidferryactor.com. 

12

Simon Fon 

Third season: Fight director of Titus Andronicus, stunt coordinator of The 

Little Years and Hosanna and aerial stunt coordinator of Camelot and 

Jesus Christ Superstar. Stratford: West Side Story, Macbeth, A Funny 

Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Zastrozzi, Bartholomew Fair, 

Phèdre, Peter Pan, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, Rice Boy, A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream; King Lear (Birmingham Conservatory). Elsewhere: With 

over 400 professional credits stretching across Canada from Stratford to Yellowknife, Simon 

specializes in all areas: weaponry, aerial flying and unarmed combat (Eastern and Western). 

Most recently Simon has worked on Dora-winning projects The Mill, Hamlet (Necessary 

Angel) and When We Were Birds. Executive Director and founder of Riot ACT, earning 17 

nominations and eight awards in their past four years, including Simon for Male Action 

Performer of the Year, 2009 AOF Festival, California. Websites: www.simonfon.com and 

www.riotact.ca. 

Bruce Godfree 

Fourth season: Sir Robert Brakenbury in Richard III and Demetrius in 

Titus Andronicus. Stratford: Peter Pan, Dangerous Liaisons, A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream (Lysander), Macbeth, Julius Caesar (Titinius), Hamlet 

(Laertes), The Taming of the Shrew, All’s Well That Ends Well. Elsewhere: 

In the U.K.: Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (The Lord Chamberlain’s Men); 

Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Avery in Charlotte’s Web, Tom 

in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Duke’s Theatre, Lancaster); Edgar in King Lear (Royal 

Shakespeare Company); Luka in Sitting Pretty (Really Useful Group); and Kip in Tennessee 

Williams’s Something Cloudy, Something Clear (U.K. première, Finborough Theatre). In 

Canada: The Fantasticks (Chester Playhouse); Dickon in The Secret Garden, Gavroche in 

Les Misérables (Neptune Theatre); and Hank in Marvin’s Room (Festival Antigonish). Film: 

The Magic of Marciano, Parsley Days. Radio: Peyton Place (BBC Radio 4), The Family Canoe 

(CBC). Training: Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. 

Carmen Grant 

Stratford debut: Appears in Richard III and Titus Andronicus. Elsewhere: 

Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Kent (King Lear) (Calgary); Lady 

Macduff (Macbeth), Lady Capulet (Romeo and Juliet), Phebe (As You Like 

It) (Halifax); Viola (Twelfth Night) (Globe Theatre); title role in The Miracle 

Worker (LKTYP); Ruth (Zadie’s Shoes) (ATP); Catherine (Proof) (Neptune); The 

Syringa Tree (Neptune, Belfry, MTC, Grand); Catherine (Doc) (Soulpepper). 

Training: Mount Royal College, National Theatre School, Birmingham Conservatory. Awards: 

Dora nomination (The Miracle Worker), ATP Rising Star (Zadie’s Shoes), Merritt Award (The 

Syringa Tree). Et cetera: Carmen is deeply grateful for the generosity of her teachers, 

colleagues, friends and family who have supported and encouraged her through some 

profoundly difficult years in this business. She is ecstatic to be working at the Stratford 

Shakespeare Festival and to be understudying the roles of Richard in Richard III and Tamora 

in Titus Andronicus. 


Stratford debut: Assistant director of Titus Andronicus. Elsewhere: 

Originally from Newfoundland, Varrick is a director, teacher and performer. 

He initiated the Gros Morne Theatre Festival in his homeland and toured 

Canada as a creator/performer with Number Eleven Theatre: ICARIA, The 

Prague Visitor and The Lamentable History of Peter Schlemiel. Directing 

highlights: A Woman Alone, Lion in the Streets (Bare Boards); A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream, The Weir (Theatre Newfoundland Labrador); Once a Shoreline, Your Name 

is Written in the Sky (Jumblies Theatre); The Unknown Island, Open Air, A Lot on Your Plate, 

The Labyrinth Project, S’alk’wa (Runaway Moon); Common Ground (Claque Theatre, U.K.); 

Tale of a Town (Fixt Point); You Don’t Know Jack (Carpet Bag Brigade, U.S.A.). Training: He 

has a BFA from Sir Wilfred Grenfell College. Et cetera: He offers deep gratitude to his Aikido 

Sensei for her unwavering belief. 

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Stratford debut: Appears in The Grapes of Wrath and Titus Andronicus. 

Elsewhere: Susan in The Waves (Toronto Fringe – awarded Best of Fringe, 

Patron’s Pick, Critic’s Pick, Best Production and Best Ensemble); Cecily in 

The Importance of Being Earnest, Beauty in Sleeping Beauty, Heidi in The 

G-String Broke, Red in Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White in Snow White, 

Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk, Vikki in Caught in the Net (Port Hope 

Festival Theatre); Goldilocks in Goldilocks (Theatre Collingwood); Loretta in The Melville Boys 

(Thousand Islands Playhouse); Manuelita in Refugee Hotel (Crosscurrents Festival – Factory 

Theatre); Witch and Fleance in Macbeth (Modern Times Stage Company tour to Iran); Janine 

in Finger of Fate (workshop, Videocab/Canadian Stage). Training: Birmingham Conservatory 

for Classical Theatre, LAMDA, University of Toronto. Website: www.ashleighhendry.com. Et 

cetera: “For my family and my husband, Jeff.” 

13

Dion Johnstone 

Seventh season: Lord Grey in Richard III and Aaron in Titus Andronicus. 

Stratford: Caliban (The Tempest), Valentine (The Two Gentlemen of Verona), 

Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Macduff (Macbeth), Octavius (Julius 

Caesar), Tom Robinson (To Kill a Mockingbird), Edmund (King Lear), Orlando 

(As You Like It), Iachimo (Cymbeline), Orestes (Electra and The Flies), King 

John, Timon of Athens, The Swanne, part two, Agamemnon. Elsewhere: 

George (A Raisin in the Sun) (Soulpepper); Boromir (The Lord of the Rings) (Mirvish 

Productions, world première); Davey Battle (Take Me Out, Canadian première) (Canadian 

Stage); Octavius (Antony and Cleopatra), Richmond (Richard III) (Bard on the Beach). Film/ 

TV: Guest-star and principal roles include Sea Wolf (mini-series), Ice Twisters (TV movie), The 

Core, Stargate SG-1. Training: BFA (acting), University of Alberta; Birmingham Conservatory 

for Classical Theatre. 

Jennifer Lennon 

Second season: Assistant lighting designer of Richard III and Titus 

Andronicus. Stratford: Assistant lighting designer of Kiss Me, Kate and Evita. 

Elsewhere: Lighting designer of Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare in Action); 

Gingerbread Guy (Cow Over Moon Children’s Theatre); Almost, Again (Go 

Go Go Productions); Double Double (Caterwaul Theatre); The Penelopiad 

Director’s Showcase (Nightwood Theatre); Nursery School Musical (Fence 

Post Productions); Dog Sees God, Good As New Festival, Autobahn (Fly By Night Theatre); 

and The Bewitched (Theatre@York). Assistant lighting designer of Hairspray (Charlottetown 

Festival); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Wizard of Oz (Grand 

Theatre); Intimate Apparel (Obsidian Theatre/Canadian Stage); and That Face (Nightwood 

Theatre/Canadian Stage). Training: BFA, Theatre Production and Design, York University. 

Lindsay Jones 

Stratford debut: Sound designer of Titus Andronicus. Elsewhere: Over 300 

shows in Off-Broadway and regional theatres across the U.S. and Canada, 

as well as shows in Austria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Scotland and with the 

Royal Shakespeare Company in England. Film/TV: Scoring credits include 

Mama, I Want To Sing for 20th Century Fox, Family Practice for Sony 

Pictures/Lifetime Television and A Note of Triumph (2006 Academy Award 

winner, Best Documentary, Short Subject) for HBO Films. Awards: Five Joseph Jefferson 

Awards and 15 nominations, an Ovation Award and three nominations, L.A. and S.D. Drama 

Critics Circle Awards, award nominations for Drama Desk, Henry Hewes Design, AUDELCO, 

Barrymore, L.A. Weekly, Connecticut Critics Circle, Austin Critics Table and Garland Awards. 

Lindsay was also the first sound designer to win the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer 

Award. Website: www.lindsayjones.com. 

Amanda Lisman 

Third season: Lavinia in Titus Andronicus and appears in The Grapes 

of Wrath. Stratford: Iris in The Tempest, Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac, 

Second Sister in Macbeth and Julia in Zastrozzi. Elsewhere: Elizabeth 

Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre); It’s a Wonderful Life (Blue 

Bridge Repertory Theatre); The Cherry Orchard, Crimes of the Heart, King 

Lear (Studio Theatre); Unity (1918), [sic], Lieutenant Nun (Theatre SKAM); 

Dancing at Lughnasa, Steel Magnolias, Rebecca (Victoria Theatre Guild); and cabaret 

performances with Atomic Vaudeville. Film/TV: Psych (USA Network), The Party Never 

Stops (Life Network). Training: Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre; Banff/ 

Citadel Professional Training Theatre Program; BFA, Acting, University of Alberta; and BA, 

Anthropology, University of Victoria. 

Emma Laird 

Sixth season: Assistant stage manager of Titus Andronicus. Stratford: King 

of Thieves, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cabaret, Pentecost. Elsewhere: 

Emma adventured out west, touring Another Home Invasion to the Citadel 

and the Arts Club Theatre. Dancing amphibians busied her fall with Frog 

and Toad at LKTYP. Other credits include The Overwhelming (Studio 

180/Canadian Stage), Stuff Happens (Mirvish/Studio 180), bedbound 

(MacKenzieRo), Upstaging Cancer (Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation), A Dickens 

Christmas (Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus), Everyone Jump (Children’s Hour Productions, 

national tour) and many PAL fundraising performances. Training: Emma is a York University 

graduate. Awards: Recipient of the Lindsay Thomas Award, two Tyrone Guthrie Awards, 

the Kenneth Ford Award and the Lieutenant Governor’s Community Volunteer Award. Et 

cetera: Emma wouldn’t be here without all the love and support from her family and friends. 

“Thanks for always making the drive out to the sticks, ladies!” 

Kim Lott 

15th season: Stage manager of Titus Andronicus. Stratford: Most recent 

credits include Evita and West Side Story. Elsewhere: Theatre credits 

include five seasons with The Grand Theatre, My Fair Lady (Drayton 

Entertainment), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Opera Ontario) and The 

Who’s Tommy (Elgin Theatre). Et cetera: “To my wonderful family – thank 

you for bringing such beauty and sunshine into my life. Keep celebrating.” 

Cyrus Lane 

Second season: Cardinal Bourchier in Richard III and Mutius in Titus 

Andronicus. Stratford: King of Thieves, Peter Pan. Elsewhere: Ferdinand 

in Rock ’n’ Roll (Canadian Stage and Citadel Theatre); Habeas Corpus, 

Take Me Out, Amadeus, Sweeney Todd (Canadian Stage); Valentin in 

Kiss of the Spider Woman (Talk Is Free Theatre); Charlie Brown in You’re 

a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Lorraine Kimsa Theatre); Step Right Up! 

(Theatre Orangeville); The Mercy Seat (Alchemy Theatre); Mickey in Blood Brothers (Theatre 

Aquarius); SARSical and An Inconvenient Musical (Factory Theatre); Lord of the Flies, The 

Doctor’s Dilemma, Uncle Vanya and SS Tenacity (Shaw Festival). Film/TV: The Summit (CBC), 

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning. Recordings: Voices on video games Resident 

Evil: Outbreak, Onimusha 2 and Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft). Training: London Academy of Music and 

Dramatic Art. Et cetera: “Love to Joanne and Eliza.” 

Roberta Maxwell 

15th season: Duchess of York in Richard III and Nurse in Titus Andronicus. 

Stratford: Began her career as apprentice under Sir Tyrone Guthrie and 

Michael Langham (1957). Roles: Oenone, Lady Macbeth (Des McAnuff, 

director), Rosalind, Nina (The Seagull 1980/Robin Phillips). Broadway: 

Equus, Our Town, The Carpetbagger’s Children, Othello, The Merchant. 

Off-Broadway: Three Sisters (2011/CSC), Richard III, Ashes, Stevie (MTC), 

The Cripple of Inishmaan (N.Y. Public). Regional U.S.: Ahmanson Theatre (Pygmalion), Old 

Globe (Othello, Rashomon), Seattle Repertory (Saint Joan), the Guthrie Theater, Connecticut 

Shakespeare (Juliet), ACT (Phèdre), Lincoln Center (The Plough and the Stars). Films: 

Brokeback Mountain, Dead Man Walking, Philadelphia, Popeye, Psycho 3. TV: Warehouse 

13, Rookie Blue, Mourning Becomes Electra (PBS), Law & Order. Awards: Two Obies (A 

Whistle in the Dark, Ashes), Drama League Award (Slag), Helen Hayes nomination, Villager 

(Mary Stuart, director Des McAnuff), Carbonelle (Lettice and Lovage, starring Julie Harris). 


Third season: Tamora in Titus Andronicus and appears in Richard III. 

Stratford: Silvia (The Two Gentlemen of Verona), Ceres (The Tempest), Aricie 

(Phèdre). Elsewhere: N.Y.C.: Isabella (Edward the Second), Duchess (The 

Revenger’s Tragedy) (Red Bull Theatre); The Dining Room (Keen Company); 

Hedda Gabler (Broadway); Chaucer in Rome (Lincoln Center). Regional/ 

International: Aricie (Phèdre) (ACT); Lady Anne (Richard III), Roxane (Cyrano) 

(Shakespeare Theatre Company); Princess of France (Love’s Labour’s Lost) (RSC and 

Shakespeare Theatre Company); and many others across the U.S. Film: Margarita, My Soul 

to Take, Ghost Town, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Elf, House of D, By Courier (Academy 

Award nomination, 2001). TV: 3lbs, Grey’s Anatomy, Numb3rs, Law and Order, All My 

Children, Guiding Light. Training: Honour graduate, Duke University and Juilliard. Awards: 

Drama Desk (The Dining Room), William Shakespeare Award (as member of Shakespeare 

Theatre Company), Michel and Suria St. Denis Award, John Houseman Award. 

Sean Mulcahy 

Seventh season: Assistant designer of Titus Andronicus. Elsewhere: Recent 

credits include set and costume designer for The Beauty Queen of Leenane 

(Neptune Theatre), set designer for Vigil (Sudbury Theatre Centre) and set 

and costume designer for Voces de Los Cerros (première production of the 

Stratford/Suchitoto Project, Es Artes, El Salvador). Selected credits: There Is 

a Land of Pure Delight, Relatively Harmless (set/costume, Live Bait Theatre); 

The Chronicles of Narnia (set), Forever Plaid (set/costume, Theatre New Brunswick); Sexy 

Laundry (set/costume), Heatwave, The Melville Boys and The Attic, the Pearls and Three 

Fine Girls (set, Sudbury Theatre Centre); Here on the Flight Path (set/costume, Prairie 

Theatre Exchange). Training: BFA Honours, design, York University. Awards: Tom Patterson 

Award and a Guthrie. Website: www.catalysttcm.com/seanmulcahy.html. Et cetera: Sean is a 

member of the Associated Designers of Canada. 

14

P 

The Stratford difference 

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Live theatre of the kind you’re seeing here today has a 

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in an extraordinary partnership that inspires us, moves 

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With your help, the Festival will continue to inspire 

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M 

E 

M 

B 

E 

H 

S 

R 

I 

Antoni Cimolino 

General Director 

Des mcAnuff 

Artistic Director 

15

Brendan Murray 

Third season: Archbishop in Richard III and Chiron in Titus Andronicus. 

Stratford: The Two Noble Kinsmen, Henry VI (parts one and two), Henry V, 

Twelfth Night, Inherit the Wind. Elsewhere: Title role in Hamlet (Resurgence/ 

Richmond Hill Centre); Hannay in the Canadian première of The 39 Steps 

(Thousand Islands Playhouse); Hook in Peter Pan, Father Flynn in Doubt, 

A Christmas Carol (Globe); The Glass Menagerie (Red Barn); The Woman 

in White (Aquarius); Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) (BeMe Theatre, Munich); 

Salt-Water Moon, directed by David French (Charlottetown Festival); Lucy, Twelfth Night 

(Canadian Stage); Relatively Speaking, Proof, Macbeth (Grand); Long Day’s Journey Into 

Night (Centaur); Love’s Labour’s Lost (NAC); Descent (Passe Muraille); The Comedy of Errors, 

Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre by the Bay); Goodnight Disgrace (Postscript); Measure 

for Measure, Blue/Orange (Citadel). Training: George Brown Theatre School, Birmingham 

Conservatory for Classical Theatre. 


Third season: Duke of Clarence in Richard III and Clown in Titus Andronicus. 

Stratford: Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bartholomew Fair, 

Shakespeare’s Universe. Elsewhere: Recent credits include Romeo and 

Juliet, Nativity (National Arts Centre); Lawrence and Holloman (Persephone 

Theatre/Prairie Theatre Exchange); As You Like It (Citadel); Sexy Laundry 

(Globe Theatre). Other credits include Medea (Manitoba Theatre Centre/ 

Mirvish); Macbeth, Othello (NAC/Citadel); And All For Love, Twelfth Night (NAC); The Elephant 

Man, The Stone Angel, The Tempest, Heaven, The Beard of Avon, Twelfth Night, Unless, 

Amadeus (Canadian Stage); The Real Thing, Humble Boy (MTC); apple (PTE); Via Dolorosa 

(Winnipeg Jewish Theatre); Blithe Spirit, Einstein’s Gift (Citadel); The File (SummerWorks); 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Festival of Classics); A Phoenix Too Frequent (Touchmark 

Theatre). Film/TV: Murdoch Mysteries, Flash of Genius, The Eleventh Hour, Street Time and 

Canada: A People’s History. 

Christian Palte 

Stratford debut: Understudy in Titus Andronicus. Elsewhere: Christian’s 

introduction to the theatre came through a Shakespeare on Wheels 

workshop. Actor/director Don Carrier, one of the presenters of the 

workshop, encouraged Christian to audition at the Stratford Shakespeare 

Festival. Usually shy and reserved by nature, Christian was an active, 

animated and entertaining participant in all the drama activities during the 

workshop; he delighted classmates and teachers with his character range and creativity. 

Et cetera: Christian dedicates his first season with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival to his 

school teacher, Kathleen Carr, whose consummate support and encouragement have been 

transforming. 

Jessica Stinson 

Second season: Apprentice stage manager of Richard III and Titus 

Andronicus. Stratford: Production assistant, Studio Theatre: Do Not Go 

Gentle, King of Thieves, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Elsewhere: 

Apprentice stage manager: Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Joseph 

and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Last Five Years, Dry Streak, 

The Syringa Tree (The Grand Theatre); Mending Fences, Harvest, Animal 

Magnetism (Port Stanley Festival Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (The Driftwood Theatre Group); 

Mask and Madness in Macbeth (Shakespeare in Action). Stage manager: Rhinoceros 

(Theatre@York). Assistant stage manager: Paradise by the River (Shadowpath Theatre 

Productions), The Pirates of Penzance (The Grand Theatre). Training: Jessica is a graduate of 

the York University Theatre Program with a double specialization in Production and Theatre 

Studies. Et cetera: Jessica would like to thank her family for all of their support. 

Joshua Pearson 

Stratford debut: Associate costume designer of Titus Andronicus. 

Elsewhere: Has been an associate/assistant to Linda Cho many times, 

including Twelfth Night (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) and The Two Noble 

Kinsmen (NYSF/Public Theater), directed by Darko Tresnjak, and Limelight 

(La Jolla Playhouse). Thirty-five productions at the Williamstown Theatre 

Festival as the costume shop manager, assistant shop manager and 

costume designer. 


Stratford debut: Director and set designer of Titus Andronicus. Elsewhere: 

Joseph Papp Public Theater, Royal Shakespeare Company Complete Works 

Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 

Old Globe, Theatre for a New Audience, Huntington Theatre Company, 

Williamstown Theatre Festival, Westport Country Playhouse, Long Wharf 

Theatre Company, Goodspeed Musicals, Vineyard Theatre Company, Blue 

Light Theater Company, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Florida Grand 

Opera, Sarasota Opera, Virginia Opera. Training: Swarthmore College, Columbia University. 

Awards: San Diego Theatre Critics Awards for outstanding direction of Cyrano de Bergerac, 

The Winter’s Tale and Pericles, and for excellence in artistic direction; TCG National 

Theater Artist Residency Grant; Alan Schneider Award for Directing Excellence. Website: 

darkotresnjak.com. Et cetera: Mr. Tresnjak was the Artistic Director of the Old Globe 

Shakespeare Festival from 2004 to 2009. He is the new Artistic Director of Hartford Stage. 

Janine Ralph 

21st season: Production stage manager of the Tom Patterson Theatre. 

Stage manager of Richard III. Stratford: Janine is delighted to return to the 

Festival from Singapore. She was production stage manager for the Tom 

Patterson Theatre for two seasons, and stage-managed Ever Yours, Oscar 

and There Reigns Love at that time. In the past Janine has stage-managed 

a variety of shows at both the Avon and Festival theatres, including The 

Gondoliers, Gypsy, Carousel, Henry V, An Enemy of the People, One Tiger to a Hill and 

Henry VIII. Elsewhere: Janine stage-managed Voyage de la Vie for Resorts World Sentosa 

in Singapore and production-managed Pinocchio: The Musical for Singapore Repertory 

Theatre, Singapore. She has also worked on the Asian Games’ ceremonies in Qatar; in a 

variety of theatres in Ontario, including Young People’s Theatre, Toronto; and also for BBC 

TV in England. 


Stratford debut: Martius in Titus Andronicus and appears in The Grapes of 

Wrath. Elsewhere: Neil Kellerman in the West End and Mirvish productions 

of Dirty Dancing; John Rutherford in Rutherford and Son, Harry Tench 

in Widowers’ Houses, Etienne in The Coronation Voyage, Simon in Lord 

of the Flies, Barnaby in The Matchmaker and Peter Pan in Peter Pan 

(Shaw Festival); Escape from Happiness, Tideline (Factory Theatre); Vinci 

(Canadian Stage); Tiny Dynamite (Theatre Smash); Return: The Sarajevo Project (Dora 

nomination), Mojo (Theatrefront); Swimming in the Shallows (Buddies in Bad Times); Grace 

(Platform 9); Romeo and Juliet (Repercussion Theatre); Henry V (Shakespeare by the Sea). 

Film/TV: Guns, Til Death Do Us Part, Poker Night, Saw III, Kardia, The Fraternity. Training: 

Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Et cetera: Dylan is a founding member of 

the award-winning Toronto-based company Theatrefront. 

E.B. Smith 

Stratford debut: Marquess of Dorset in Richard III and Alarbus in Titus 

Andronicus. Elsewhere: Chicago Shakespeare Theater – Seyton in 

Macbeth, Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet; First Folio Theatre – Macduff 

in Macbeth; Karamu House Theater – King in King Hedley II (Cleveland 

Scene, Best Production of 2007), Moustique in Dream on Monkey 

Mountain, Junior in Before it Hits Home. Other credits include work at the 

Cleveland Play House, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Theater Wit in Chicago, and two 

seasons at the Great Lakes Theater Festival. Film/TV: The Beast (Sony Pictures Television), 

Ask Gilby, Maybe By Then and Thunder Bay (PBS-TV). Training: Studied acting at Ohio 

University and the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Et cetera: E.B. dedicates 

his work to Moira, his parents and grandmother, and to the memory of his Papa, who will 

always be in the front row. 

Suzanne Turnbull 

13th season: Dramaturge of Titus Andronicus. Stratford: Worked in various 

capacities such as dramaturge, text and understudy coach, researcher 

and assistant director. Elsewhere: Suzanne directed My Little Butterball, 

which toured Windsor schools for the Windsor Feminist Theatre. Was a 

co-director of Kam Theatre, Kaleidoscope’s theatre school director and 

University of Western Ontario director-in-residence. Participated in two 

NAC Ark workshops. Suzanne was choral director for James Reaney’s Sticks & Stones and 

The St. Nicholas Hotel (Banff). More than 30 directing credits include Goodbye My Fancy, 

The Madras House, Albertine in Five Times, Henry IV, Macbeth, The Diary of Anne Frank, 

The Fighting Days and Les Belles-Soeurs. Teaching: Western, Windsor and Lakehead 

universities; George Brown, Humber and St. Clair colleges; Michael Langham Workshop 

for Classical Direction; and the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Training: 

University of Alberta (BFA acting). 

16

John Vickery 

Fourth season: Camp Proprietor in The Grapes of Wrath and Titus 

Andronicus in Titus Andronicus. Stratford: 2010: Antonio (The Tempest), 

Duke (The Two Gentlemen of Verona). 2009: Ross (Macbeth), Comte de 

Guiche (Cyrano), Victor (Zastrozzi). 2008: Capulet (Romeo and Juliet), 

Holofernes (Love’s Labour’s Lost), Lucius Septimius (Caesar and Cleopatra). 

Elsewhere: Broadway: original Scar in The Lion King (also in L.A.), The Real 

Thing, The Sisters Rosensweig, Macbeth. He recently worked with Robert Wilson on The 

Black Rider and David Hare on Stuff Happens. Other roles include Romeo, Laertes, Hamlet, 

Benedict, Dr. Caius, Gower, Pericles, Prince Hal, Richard II, Bolingbroke, Richard III, Cassius, 

Brutus, Autolycus, Edgar, Edmund, Malcolm, Macbeth, Don Juan, Tartuffe, Alceste, Trofimov, 

Lopahin, Trigorin, Delio and Bosola (twice) in The Duchess of Malfi. Film/TV: Murder by 

Numbers, Big Business, Dr. Giggles, Patriot Games, Rapid Fire, Without a Trace, NCIS, 

Frasier, NYPD Blue and all of Star Trek (except Voyager). 

Maxwell T. Wilson 

13th season: Production stage manager of the Tom Patterson Theatre. 

Stage manager of Hosanna. Stratford: Productions of Peter Pan; A Funny 

Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Avon Theatre 2009 and 

Toronto’s Canon Theatre 2010-11); Cabaret; South Pacific and My One 

and Only (director Michael Lichtefeld); The Winter’s Tale (director Brian 

Bedford); Death of a Salesman (starring Al Waxman and Martha Henry); 

Timon of Athens (director Michael Langham). Elsewhere: Max’s career spans 25 years 

including work with the Citadel Theatre, Edmonton Opera, Opera Ontario, Opera Atelier, 

the Canadian Opera Company, Canadian Stage, Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People 

and Mirvish Productions on The Who’s Tommy (director Des McAnuff). Training: BA dramatic 

arts, University of Lethbridge. Et cetera: Venues coordinator for the Toronto International 

Film Festival, 2002 to 2004. He is webmaster for the Southern Ontario Orchid Society (www. 

soos.ca) and Ravenvision Photographic (www.ravenvision.ca). 

For biographies of the entire 2011 Festival company, please visit the “About Us” 

section of our website: stratfordshakespearefestival.com. 

Scandal. Lust. Betrayal. Irony. 

(And that’s just our political coverage) 

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