Starting Lineup
Brian Allard
is the Artistic Director and Founder of the Original Practice Shakespeare Festival. Brian has comes to Portland via Minneapolis, London and New York, but is now very happy to call Oregon home. His Shakespeare training has taken many courses, from London’s Globe to the New England Shakespeare Festival. During his time in New York, Brian appeared off-Broadway as Caliban in The Tempest and Romney Leigh in Aurora Leigh. Since coming to PDX, he played in the US Premeire of Tales of Ordinary Madness in the lead role of Peter, clucked around as Allen in bobrauschenbergamerica at Portland Playhouse, and will appear as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice this summer with Quintessence. This is his third “Original Practice” style Shakespeare production, most notably having played Benedicke last year in NESF’s production of Much Ado.
David Bellis-Squires
moved back to Portland two years ago, and has performed with defunkt theatre and Blue Monkey Theatre since that time, as well as in several of CoHo's 24-Hour Plays. He has never been happier to be working hard for the Bard.
Andrew Bray
Elizabeth Daniels
is returning to the world of theatre after a couple years of far less interesting “work”, and is delighted and honored to be making her Portland debut with OPS Fest. Elizabeth previously held several diverse roles in Westerville , OH , where she attended Otterbein College in the Acting Program, including Lenny in Crimes of the Heart, Elmire in Tartuffe, and Iriana in the Workshop Production of Swamp Baby. Elizabeth would like to thank her ever under-appreciated parents and Teri for their support & encouragement, and LF for his faithful translations of unspoken poetry and profanity.
Nathan Daniels
is excited to be a part of this (relatively) new style, and hopes that all the goats he sacrificed to Dionysus pay off. Favorite prior roles include (but are not limited to) Loner/Dylan Klebold in Columbinus, Harold Hill in The Music Man, John Proctor in The Crucible, and the Nurse (among many others) in Romeo and Juliet. Nathan would like to thank the beautiful Kaia, his sister, and Brian for letting him play a man this time.
Jennifer Gartner
is a guest artist from New York City. She is a graduate of Circle in the Square's Professional Workshop. Credits at Circle include Top Girls (Marlene) and Tenderloin (Jessica). She is also a graduate of Boston College where she majored in theater. This is Jennifer's second summer of unrehearsed Shakespeare and she is thrilled to be a part of the inaugural season of Ops Fest! Thanks for Brian for the opportunity to play!
Noah Goldenberg
Devin Harkness
is primarily an improvisational theater actor, and is delighted to appear in his first Shakespeare production. Devin began his improvisational theater work with Seattle's Unexpected Productions in 1995, and has been improvising with Portland's Brody Theater since 2003. He has also appeared in digital and super 8 films around town, including a cameo as a zombie in The Handsome Furs' music video, I'm Confused. You can also find Devin leading improv training at Portland State University, where he is pursuing a masters degree in school counseling.
Matt Haynes
"Tall Matt Haynes" has been working in Portland Theatre for almost 5 years. He recieved his BS in Theatre from Skidmore College and is a graduate of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre's professional training program. Previous roles in Portland include: Kalani in El Ultimo, El Maestro in La Carpa Del Maestro, Death in La Carpa Del Ausente (Miracle Theatre), Little John in Robin Hood (Blue Monkey), A Big Black Woman in The Liars Club (Brooklyn Bay), the Boy in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Oregon Children's Theatre), and The Creature in Frankenstein (Northwest Children's Theatre). This is his debut with Original Practice Shakespeare and he thanks Brian for the opportunity.
Nik Hoback
is super excited to be a part of this process, as well as to be playing with the bard. It's been nearly a year since his move to Portland, but it was definitely the right choice. He has been enjoying the rain and clouds as a break from his too-hot-and-humid childhood in Orlando, FL and from the snow of Spokane, WA where he attended Whitworth University. Nik has been seen around town in Fall of the House: Season 3 as Steven (Action/Adventure), Comedy of Errors as Antipholus of Syracuse (Bag & Baggage), Tragedy: a tragedy as John in the Field (FUSE), and briefly with the Portland Improv Group as himself. "It's been a good year, and I'm enjoying calling Portland home."
kirsten anya kyllingstad
is delighted to be involved with this production of Midsommer. She has really enjoyed the challenge of this show and has had a lot of fun. She was most recently seen as Celeste in Celeste and Starla Save Todd and Win Back the Day (Fuse Theatre Ensemble). Some of her most memorable roles include signing the part of the Queen and voicing the part of D’artagnan in The Three Musketeers (Seattle Children’s Theatre Deaf Youth Program), and the part or Ursula in a ASL/English production (New Blue Parrot). She also performs in musical theatre productions around Portland and enjoys singing and dancing immensely. She would like to thank John for all his love and support and her mom, who rocks.
James C. Lawrence
has been active in the Portland theatre community since 1980. Companies James has worked with have included: Portland Civic Theatre, New Rose Theatre, Columbia Theatre, Carousel Company Theatre for Children, Northwest Childrens Theatre and School, Phoenix Theatre, Commedia Theatre, Lakewood Theatre, Portland Actors Ensemble, Quintessence Language and Imagination Theatre, Gun Happy Theatre, La Famiglia, Nostalg-a-Go-Go, & triangle! Productions to name a few. Favourite roles? He has a few…
Kerry Leek
is a founding member of the Brody Theater, and has spent the 13 years deeply immersed in improvisational theater - teaching, directing and traveling abroad to participate in festivals Amsterdam, Slovenia, Vancouver and Edmonton. She estimates she has performed in over 600 shows over the years, none of them scripted. In fact, the last scripted show she performed in was as Olivia in Twelfth Night with Acme Theater Company in Davis, California 15 years ago. She thinks it is fitting Shakespeare is once again showing her the joy of the written word. A graduate student, Kerry spends her minimal spare time blues dancing.
Rebecca Frost Mayer
is an actor, writer, choreographer, dancer, director, and theatre/dance teacher, with a BFA in Theatre Studies from Boston University's School of Theatre Arts. Highlights of her BU career included Company (Joanne/Choreographer), The Threepenny Opera, (Beggar/Queen Elizabeth), and Training Wisteria at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (Assistant Director). Here in Portland, she has performed her one-woman show Happy Hour at Stark Raving Theatre and has also appeared in Anonymous Theatre's The Learned Ladies (Armande). Rebecca performed with this year's Fertile Ground Festival and hopes to be featured in next year's festival as an actor and playwright. This summer, she did a brief turn as Camille in Action Adventure Theatre's Fall of the House.
Megan Murphy
is pleased to be working on a new project with Brian and OPS this summer. She has been a Shakespeare lover and performer since she was little. Her favorite Shakespearean role played so far has been Feste in Twelfth Night. Originally from Northern California, Megan spent her formative years in conservatory with California Theater Center, and later obtained a degree in theatre arts at Whittier College in Southern California. She has performed in various musicals at Mt Hood Community College including Princess Puffer in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. She has also worked with local theatre companies such as CoHo Productions, Public Playhouse, Mt Hood Rep and Tribe Theatre.
Amanda Naylor
is a recent graduate of Whitman College with a degree in Theater, focusing on acting and costume design. Favorite roles while in attendance include portraying Little Sally in Urinetown, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and design for Apparition: An Uneasy Play of the Underknown. She also spent a semester in London studying with theater and radio drama director Marina Calderone (author of Actions: An Actor`s Thesaurus). Relatively new to the Portland theater scene, she is thrilled to be spending the summer performing with this company.
Michael Streeter
received his BA in theater from Presbyterian College and his MFA in acting from the University of Southern California. Michael spent eight years in LA and while he did some movies and TV (General Hospital, Golden Girls, The Court Marshall of Jackie Robinson, among others) ironically, much of the work he did was in outdoor theaters. He appeared in Pericles and Americana at the Will Gear Theatricum Botanicum; El Cid, The Malcontent, The Captain and Peer Gynt at the Culver City Theatre in the Park; Macbeth and Twelfth Night both directed by Libby Appel at the Kern Shakespeare Festival; and the Universal Studios Tour. After taking a near two decade hiatus to raise a family in Portland, Michael has returned to the stage, uh, grass. Portland audiences have recently seen him as Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, in Henry V, and in Fiddler on the Roof. He is currently playing Kent in King Lear. Michael is the Artistic Director of Portland Actors Ensemble.
Elizabeth Yocam
is a guest artist from LA, though very excited to be performing in and around her hometown of Portland. She recently moved to LA from NYC where she spent five years performing in numerous off-off-Broadway and regional theatre productions. Favorite shows include The House of Blue Leaves (Bunny) at the Midtown International Theatre Festival in NYC and A Midsommer Nights Dream (Pucke) with New England Shakespeare Festival, where she met Brian. Thanks to Brian for including me in the inaugural season of OPS Fest and Evan and my family and friends for their love and support. http://www.elizabethyocam.com.
Bench Players
Michael Godsey
Clara Hillier
Gretchin Lair
Mikki Lipsey
is a new transplant from the east coast. She has been acting for almost 50 years. In Cambridge Massachusetts Mikki appeared with the American Repertory Theatre in Three Sisters (which was also featured at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland) and Romeo and Juliet. Most recently, in the Boston area, she played Mag in The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Belise in Moliere's Learned Ladies and Leonata in Much Ado About Nothing . Mikki received her training at Emerson College and with Shakespeare and Co. in Lenox MA. She is presently a board member of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance and is playing Mother in Tim Stapleton's Leaning Into the Everlasting Arms at the IFCC.
Lissie Lewis
Erin Shannon
Portland acting credits include Mutt (Many Hats Collabrorations), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Lakewood Theatre Company), Pippin (Tin Pan Alley), Annie Warbucks (Tin Pan Alley), The Wild Party (Live On Stage). Choreography credits include Pippin (Tin Pan Alley), and La Carpa del Maestro (Milagro Theatre), as well as numerous high school and college productions. Erin is currently involved with Lakewood Theatre Company's The Producers as both an ensemble member and the choreographer. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Oklahoma City University, and is qualified dance and yoga instructor. This is Erin's first foray into performing Shakespeare.