SF SHAKES - Key Persons
Aaron came to Shakespeare in college, where he realized how much he enjoyed the Bard when his plays were taught as performance. He performed with the Stanford Shakespeare theater troupe, appearing in Othello, Romeo and Juliet, and As You Like It, and after graduating regularly patronized shows at the Folger Theatre and the Shakespeare Theater Company (STC) in Washington, DC. He is thrilled to be a board member at SF Shakes, which has a goal of bringing Shakespeare to children across the Bay Area through a special blend of performance and study. Aaron works in Strategy for Google and has a BA in Public Policy from Stanford and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He lives in San Francisco with his family.
As a Bay Area native, Lex has attended and participated in many of SF Shakes' programs over the last two decades, including four years as a camper and one year as an intern in the Bay Area Shakespeare Camps. As a direct result of those years at Shakespeare Camp, Lex and a few other campers/classmates started a drama club at their middle school, which is still going strong after almost twenty years. From those early experiences, Lex's love of Shakespeare and SF Shakes has only grown. She is particularly passionate about continuing to make Shakespeare accessible to people regardless of background. Lex is a trial lawyer by trade, handling catastrophic personal injury cases at Fiore Achermann in San Francisco.
Carla, born and raised in the South Bay, is an actor, fight director, teaching artist, intimacy director, and mom of two. She has been a Resident Artist of San Francisco Shakespeare Festival since 2014 and recently served as Director of Vision for the 2021 Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, directing episodes 2 and 4. In 2020, she was in the acting company at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, returning in 2022 as the festival's first female fight director. Carla is an associate instructor for Dueling Arts International and serves on their governing body as Vice President. She is also a proud member of Making Good Trouble, an anti-racist training cohort based in the Bay Area. Carla has directed SF Shakes' Shakespeare on Tour production of Romeo and Juliet and Comedy of Errors and Assistant Directed the 2017 Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Hamlet. She played Paulina in Free Shakespeare in the Park's The Winter's Tale, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, and Kate in The Taming of the Shrew. She's performed with Cal Shakes, Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire, Playground, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, and the SF Mime Troupe in the Bay Area to name a few.
QUERIDA SOR JUANA / DEAR SOR JUANA
Artist Carolina Morones and SF Shakes are partnering to develop and present a staged reading of Morones' new play Querida Sor Juana/ Dear Sor Juana in May, 2023.
Originally conceived for the Bay Area Women's Theatre Festival (BAWTF) in March 2020 at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Covid-19 led to the cancellation of this event. Morones preferred not to present the work virtually, and SFSF honored her choice.
This play represents Latin American characters of historical importance played by Latinx actors, and centers Latinx artists as writers/directors/collaborators.. We will explore how best to create a supportive writing and research process.
Querida Sor Juana offers the opportunity to expand the canonical expectations of a Shakespeare theater company and represents a step in decolonizing Shakespeare-centered theater companies by making discursive space for diverse voices from the same era.
In November, Morones and SFSF's Artistic and Executive Directors, Rebecca Ennals and Toby Leavitt, followed guidance from a workshop hosted by Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) to co-create an MOU.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
- US Managing Director of OpenCities, Inc
Cynthia is the US Managing Director of OpenCities, Inc. with offices in San Francisco and Melbourne, AU. She is a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience building and leading pioneering companies in digital and social media. Prior to working in technology, Cynthia earned a BA in Theater and Dance from UC Berkeley, and worked in non-profit theater and arts organizations including four years at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She has been a two-decade long supporter of SF Shakes as an audience member, patron and enthusiastic Shakespeare Camp mom. Seeing the value of Shakespeare camp for her three daughters was a catalyst to join the Board and look to further leverage her shared passions of theater, kids, activism and technology.
Dan has been a committed Shakespearian for four decades. He and his wife have run a Shakespeare Reading Group, the Saltmarsh Players, for 30 years. He served as the Chairman of Shakespeare's Globe USA, the US Support Board for Shakespeare's Globe, London, and as a Trustee of the Shakespeare's Globe Trust, in London. He is proud to have been a supporter and colleague of the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival since 2019. Dan began his career as a lawyer, and served as a federal law clerk, as a federal prosecutor in the US Department of Justice, and as a very active partner in two law firms: McCarter & English, and Shearman & Sterling. In 2007 Dan left the law and became President and CEO of The Athena Group, LLC, a troubled hedge fund. After successfully resolving Athena over the next five years, Dan was recruited to join the senior management group assembled to rescue and rebuild AIG, the global insurance giant. At AIG he served as Vice President and Global Head of Regulatory Capital, and was AIG's global diplomat for regulatory, capital and risk management affairs. Since 2017, when he left AIG, he has served as an independent director and business advisor to several companies, including: Atlantic Industries, Inc; Aurora Bank, FSB; Archaio LLC; Gracie Terrace Apartment Corp.; and Altmayer Management, Inc. Dan served as a Director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund for 34 years, and is now a Senior Director. During that time he led the LDF Scholarship and Education Committee, served on the Executive Committee, and represented, pro bono, numerous death-sentenced indigent inmates across the South. None were executed. Dan also served on the Board of Friends Seminary, a coeducational pre-Revolutionary War Quaker educational institution in New York City, and also serves as a Trustee of Lamplighters Music Theater, here in San Francisco.
Having been introduced to the Bard through the endless footnotes of Arden Shakespeare, Kem has nonetheless been lucky enough to know and work with teachers and artists who have shown him that Shakespeare demands to be seen and heard, not read. He has enjoyed opportunities in acting, directing, and theater research that have taught him the transformative power of Shakespeare's verse in a way no English literature class could. Kem believes that having free access to Shakespeare in performance can illuminate its true understanding for youth across the Bay's under served communities, and empower them with emotional and intellectual range required to develop empathy, so desperately needed in a society where interactions are increasingly impersonal and biased. Hailing from Istanbul, Turkey and a resident of the Bay Area since 2002, Kem is a Director of Business Development at Dropbox by trade. He lives in Merced Manor with his wife and young daughter.
Jim has been on the board of SFSF for over twenty years. He first became involved after one of his daughters played a part in the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is a retired architect from the firm of Sandy/Babcock International. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a BA and Master's of Architecture. He is on the board of the Presidio Historical Association and is a founding director of Trans Pacific National Bank.
Jesse is a Sr. Operations Associate at DoorDash, and has made her career working at high growth tech startups. Jesse has loved theatre her entire life. In college, she was a member of the Rude Mechanicals the only fully student-run Shakespearean theatre troupe at Dartmouth College. She is thrilled to be a part of the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and help bring Shakespeare to the city. Jesse is from Tempe, Arizona.
John has been a fan of Free Shakespeare in the Park since its inception in 1983 with The Tempest. He is responsible for the marketing and advertising of all Festival programs. He received his B.A. from Cleveland State University and continuing education credits from the advertising program at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Extended Learning. Mr. Western has been on the Festival staff since 1998, and has ten years of experience in theater advertising and promotion, plus two years of management experience in the public relations field.
Job Titles:
- COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST
- Lead TA ), Brittany Villars ( TA ), & Ryan Lee ( TA )
Joshua (he/him) works in marketing/communications with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. In addition to marketing he has worked with SF Shakes as a teaching artist, education workgroup member, and performer as Romeo/Nurse & Oberon/Lysander in Takes On Shakes. Joshua works in theatre and film as a director, performer, producer/ digital producer, fight choreographer, film maker and educator. In the Bay Area Joshua was an ensemble member with both FoolsFURY and Ragged Wing Ensemble. Directed/Fight Choreographed with PlayGround, Ragged Wing, FoolsFURY, New Century Symphony, San Francisco Youth Theatre and is a Digital Artist with the International Theatre Company and Podcast The Theatre of Others. Joshua has also worked with Georgia Shakespeare, Fly By Theatre, Essential Theatre, Yat/Bentley Centre, Fuse, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre, Georgia Mountain Theatre, Push-Push Theatre and Film, Jewish Theatre of the South, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, PlayMakers, Cal Shakes, Berkeley Repertory School of Theatre, ACT, The Alliance Theatre, Dragon Theatre and Shakespearience. Joshua holds an MFA in Directing for Stage and Screen and teaches theatre at Foothill College and was the Program/Artistic Leader of the Center for Creative and Performing Arts Theatre at Guilford Tech College. An associate member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers a member of the Society of American Fight Directors and an Actor-Combatant. waterstonejoshua.wixsite.com/directo r
Upcoming Virtual Playshop with the Town of Danville on July 16th is fully staffed and will be led by Joshua Waterstone and Ryan Lee.
Job Titles:
- Director
- PROGRAM MANAGER, SHAKESPEARE for ALL NEIGHBORS
Maryssa is an actor, director, and educator, with an emphasis on social justice and classical theatre. A long-time Resident Artist at SF Shakes, Wanlass has appeared on the mainstage in multiple shows and taught in nearly every program. Notable roles with SF Shakes include Jaques in As You Like It, Horatio in Hamlet, and Hermione in Winter's Tale. Other Bay Area stage appearances include CalShakes (As You Like It), San Jose Stage (Persuasion), Livermore Shakespeare Festival (As You Like It, Hamlet, Merry Wives of Windsor), Center REPertory Company (Enchanted April, Witness for the Prosecution), Woman's Will (Much Ado About Nothing, Good Person of Szechuan). She has directed locally for Utopia Theatre Project, PlayGroundSF, Shotz, and regionally for Advice to the Players. Wanlass' social justice work includes directing at-risk young adults in Shakespeare plays via SF Shakes' Midnight Shakespeare program, and working with Red Ladder Theatre to deliver improv workshops in California's correctional system. As Engagement Director for SF Shakes, they are spearheading a new curriculum that encourages participants to share their own creative storytelling with inspiration from William Shakespeare.
Meghan's love for Shakespeare began in elementary school when she would sneak into the movies to see the PG-13 rated Romeo & Juliet. She followed that adoration through college to study English Literature with a term on Theatre Studies in London, and later receiving a Masters Degree with a focus on Renaissance Lit. Meghan was the Director of Communications for the Shakespeare Project of Chicago in 2012, and in 2018 she would celebrate her wedding at the Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park. Professionally, Meghan is the CEO of Simply the Basics, a nonprofit that serves the low-income and homeless community with ensuring basic needs are accessible to everyone. In 2019, Meghan worked with SF Shakes to develop "Shakespeare for All Neighbors", an event to bring Shakespeare to the Recipients of her organization. Meghan is honored to join the Board of Directors, and believes that through Shakespeare's plays, we can have a deeper understanding of ourselves and of humanity.
Job Titles:
- DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE
- Member of the San Francisco
A graduate of San Francisco State University, Meredith is a long time member of the San Francisco arts community who has worked extensively with EXIT Theater and the SF Fringe festival as a director and producer, was a founding member of Misery/Loves Co. and has staged works at Theater Rhino, Mission Cultural Center and Brava. Through her work as an Arts and Parent Engagement Coordinator at SFUSD she guided innovative partnerships between arts organizations, school staff and families to strengthen relationships and support student achievement. In her role as Development Associate she is able to continue her work in supporting equitable arts access in the Bay Area.
Michael has drawn wisdom and inspiration from Shakespeare's works for more than two decades, and he believes strongly that Shakespeare can and should be enjoyed by everybody, irrespective of education or background. Michael served as Shakespeare coach to his former boss, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in preparation for her cameo appearance in Henry V at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC; he also wrote his own wedding vows in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet. By day, Michael is a partner in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and the proud father of two boys who already delight in the sword fights, mistaken identities, hilarious cross-dressing and voyeurism permeating Shakespeare's body of work.
Job Titles:
- TECHNICAL DIRECTOR / SCENIC, GRAPHIC, & WEB DESIGNER / BUILDER, PAINTER, MOVER / SITE SERVICES
- Technical Director of San Francisco Shakespeare Festival
Neal has been the Technical Director of San Francisco Shakespeare Festival since 2017, serving also as webmaster, graphic designer, scenic designer, master carpenter, and managing infrastructure and venue logistics. A 2001 graduate of Stanford University, he subsequently founded NAO Design and spent the next decade expanding into the realms of web, graphic, product, sound, scenic, and automotive design, lighting, furniture, signage, pyrotechnics, robotics, and architecture. From there he spent four years as Manager of Art and Technology at the advertising conglomerate Publicis. Upon joining the ranks of SF Shakes, Neal found it to be a tremendous match for all these miscellaneous skills! At the outset of the COVID pandemic he developed SF Shakes' "Unified Virtual Space" method of compositing more than a dozen live, remote actors into a shared virtual space onscreen, the first such undertaking worldwide. Future plans include the first-ever production of Shakespeare in Space.
Pratiksha Shah is not just a production manager but a true visionary genius behind the scenes. This means balancing a million tasks while staying on top of everything that's going on - rehearsal schedules, hiring crews and designers, contracts, and payrolls to name a few. Pratiksha graduated from Foothill Theater Conservatory and has been an active part of the theater world for the past 10 years. She fell in love with Shakespeare during school and joined San Francisco Shakespeare Festival at the onset of the pandemic in January 2020. In her short tenure of 3 years with SF Shakes she has supported and mastered: fully virtual productions (King Lear), episodic virtual hybrid productions (Pericles), and in-person productions in three different park locations (Much Ado). In her spare time, she produces shorts, commercials, web series, features and so much more!
Ray has worked in various capacities of marketing, product and services management for the 20 years at Oracle and Sun Microsystems. He has a BS in Biology and Secondary Education from the University of Missouri and an MBA from San Jose State. Ray has made San Francisco home for 30 plus years after growing up on a farm in Missouri where access to theater and performing arts was extremely limited. That limited access to the arts influences his passion today for making the arts accessible to everyone. This passion was awakened after studying and performing in improvisational theater and volunteering as a photography docent at the Ansel Adams Gallery in the late 90's. More recently, Ray has been singing with the San Francisco City College chorus. His involvement with the Festival began by attending performances and "paying to get out" after each performance. After learning more about the mission and observing the impact of the Festival on multiple communities, Ray joined the board in 2006 and began work as the Board Advancement Chair. He looks forward to seeing the Festival celebrate the next generation of thespians and arts supporters in the Bay Area through its outreach into the Bay Area and communities beyond.
Raymond's passion for SF Shakes stems from his love of Shakespeare which started in High School, reading and studying Julius Caesar. More recently, his appreciation for the efforts that go into the production and presentation of live performances has been enhanced by learning from his daughter, a Theater and Drama student, who has shown him the way theater and arts can be used to both entertain and teach in a way that other mediums cannot. It's important to Raymond that SF Shakes continues to provide family and youth arts activities in the Bay Area. Raymond has over 35 years of experience as a Construction and Real Estate Attorney practicing in San Francisco and has been recognized repeatedly as one of the top attorneys in Northern California by Chambers and by SuperLawyers. He is currently a Partner with Clark Hill, LLP.
Job Titles:
- Education Workgroup
- Member of COMMITTEE
Rebecca Ennals put out a call to all active Resident Artists and Teaching Artists to self-nominate to be a part of this new education workgroup with Amy Lizardo and Regina Morones in co- leadership positions. There was a strong response to Rebecca's email which resulted in seven teaching artists signing on to the workgroup right away. The workgroup was then divided into two subgroups, Shakespeare summer camps and existing residency programs.
The Workgroup currently includes 10 active members: Rebecca Ennals (Lead), Amy Lizardo (Lead), Regina Morones (Lead), Bidalia Albanese, Evan Held, Charlie Lavaroni, Ryan Lee, Ayelet Schrek, Michaela Stewart, Joshua Waterstone.
Job Titles:
- Previous Artistic Director
Carla Pantoja was hired as SF Shakes' next Artistic Director in Feb, 2023.
The Artistic Director Transition Team was in full support of Carla's career and personal goals, and so she began working part-time (apx 24 hour/week) and had flexibility in her work schedule while concurrently employed as a fight director at Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Previous Artistic Director Rebecca J. Ennal's part time contract was extended by mutual agreement to provide additional availability to support Carla's onboarding. An exit interview was conducted by board chair Cynthia Francis.
Carla and Executive Director Toby Leavitt are meeting regularly with EDI consultant Diedra Barber, of Filament Consulting. Carla is also meeting individually with Diedra on a regular basis.
Carla, Toby and Production Manager Pratiksha Shah took ArtEquity's training, Stra tegies for Change. The training underscored the importance of supporting BIPOC leaders and highlighted dynamics that undermine them. We are seeing these dynamics at play throughout our theater community, and are recognizing and dismantling them within SF Shakes. The training provided tools to support BIPOC leadership, and we commit to reporting in Dec on the implementation of several of these tools.
Resident Artist Company: Current membership includes Amy Lizardo, Akaina Ghosh, Carla Pantoja, Ella Ruth Francis, Regina Morones, David Moore, Maryssa Wanlass, Robyn Grahn, Sydney Schwindt, Phil Wong. The current company was able to meet once in the spring, with next steps to be to further define the company's purpose, then decide how new members will be invited and/or self-nominate.
Roshni is a theater nerd at heart and loves engaging her right brain to support the festival in bringing Shakespeare to students and local communities across the Bay Area. She is passionate about the mission to bring Shakespeare to all as she believes in its power to transform lives. Roshni worked in management consulting for many years and now leads product at Eventbrite. She holds a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University.
Toby oversees all aspects of the Shakespeare Festival's programs. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Chicago, and received her Masters from the University of Chicago Business School in 1997. Prior to joining the Festival in 1998, she served as General Manager for Chicago's Court Theatre. She oversaw their financial growth from a $1.6 million to $2.8 million annual budget, guided the theatre in developing a 5-year strategic plan to become the National Center for Classic Theatre, and managed the ensuing strategic growth of the organization. Prior to her four years with the Court, she worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as Senior Editor and Director of Marketing Communications. Her accomplishments in audience development have been recognized by the Arts Marketing Center of Chicago and the Marshall Fields Foundation. She has served as a management consultant for Chicago Opera Theater, the Piven Theater Workshop, and Roadworks Theater Company, and has served as a panelist for the San Francisco Art Commission's Cultural Equity Initiatives Grant program.
SF Shakes's Executive Director Toby Leavitt has emailed the Executive Directors of the American Indian Cultural District and the American Indian Cultural Center to introduce herself. Prior to introducing herself, she benefited greatly from guidance provided by the Sogorea Te' Land Trust in "How to Come Correct."