Welcome, Teachers and Students. Our production process began with a statement from me about Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the inspiration for our show and our cut of the text: societal structures and echoes of violence compress and warp the characters within an imagined history of Scotland. I hope my director’s statement will live for you in your classrooms and mind while you enjoy our production- take, question and analyze away.

Macbeth fuses a history play, a fifteenth century demonology book, and a celebration of Scotland written for the then newly crowned King James. It is simultaneously Shakespeare’s shortest play (the only one without a side plot) and one of his most commonly produced. In rehearsal, we’ve been lovingly referring to it as Shakespeare’s Hamilton, a fusion of history, pop culture, and spectacle.

I am thrilled to share with you this talented cast that has built a world full of crone’s reclaiming the word weird, ghosts seeking revenge and echoes of the decisions our characters make haunting them throughout the play. Watch the gate and for ghouls they come in all directions.

Bonus Points: As you watch our production, which is cut to the action at a rapid pace (I ask your forgiveness now) and staged to match the history of Shakespeare’s physical stage - ask yourself during and after, just as Shakespeare’s audience would have done the play, why is each scene staged where it is—are the characters being inspired by heaven, hell, or our earthly plane?

Katie Keddell
Director, Macbeth

Lloyd Ekpe (Macduff and Others) is a member of CSC’S Black Classical Acting Ensemble and returns after previously performing in Shakespeare Beyond’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2024), Romeo and Juliet (2024) The Oresteia (2024), the summer production of Macbeth (2023), the student matinee of Macbeth (2022), and A Raisin in the Sun (2022). His previous credits include: A Civil War Christmas at the Strand Theatre, Girls on a Dirt Pile as a part of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. He was nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Award and won 'Outstanding Performance in a Play Reading'.

Shayna Freedman (Witch 1, Lady Macduff, and Others) is making her CSC debut. Other credits include Coriolanus (Avant Bard Theatre), As You Like It (Devil's Isle Shakespeare Company), Learnéd Ladies, As You Like It, The Servant of Two Masters, A Christmas Carol, Romeo & Juliet (Classic Theatre of Maryland), and Richard II (Her Majesty & Sons). As an acting coach, Shayna has most notably collaborated with Netflix, Amazon, and Claro Video. Shayna had led workshops at New York University, New School University, Sarah Lawrence College, Marymount Manhattan College, Synetic Theater, and more. She is on faculty at Lucid Body House (NYC) and Casa Spanda (Mexico City). MFA: STC Academy. www.shaynafreedman.com

Lauren Erica Jackson (Lady Macbeth and Others) returns to CSC after previously performing in Romeo and Juliet (2024) A Christmas Carol (2022, 2023). Other CSC performances include Macbeth (Summer 2023 as Banquo, Lady Macduff, Lennox) and Macbeth (Fall 2023 as Lady Macbeth). In addition to being an actor, Lauren is also a director, writer, songstress, and storyteller, and was an ensemble member at Single Carrot Theatre from 2017-2022. Notable performances include Phoebe in Phoebe in Winter (Single Carrot, City Paper Best Actor 2016), Zoë in The Niceties (Everyman Theatre: Salon Series), and Narrator in Every Brilliant Thing (Single Carrot).

Molly Moores (Witch 2, Ross, and Others) has been a CSC Company Member and Teaching Artist since 2011. CSC productions include: Shakespeare Beyond: Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet (student matinee 2015-2020, 2022-2024); A Christmas Carol (2014-2019, 2021-2023); Much Ado About Nothing (2015, 2022); The Adventures of Pericles (2021); Macbeth (movable 2019); Macbeth (student matinee 2019, 2024); Henry IV Parts 1 and II; A Midsummer Night's Dream (2011 and 2018); The Winter's Tale; Julius Caesar; Anne of the Thousand Days; Three Musketeers; Macbeth (2016); Richard II; The Taming of the Shrew (2013); Antony and Cleopatra; Pride and Prejudice; Romeo and Juliet (2012); and The Merchant of Venice. www.mollymoores.com

Benny Pope (Duncan, Porter, and Others) is a CSC Company Member and a member of CSC’s Black Classical Acting Ensemble. He has performed in the 2023 and 2024 student matinee productions of Romeo and Juliet, A Christmas Carol (2022) and served as an understudy in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (2024). His other credits include The Book of Grace (Rapid Lemon Productions), A Soldier’s Play (Second Star Productions), Christmas Is Comin’ Uptown, God’s Trombones, Hamlet, It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues, Spell #7, Witness for the Prosecution (Arena Players, Inc). Film credit: America Gone Viral (Changing World Films)

Mallory Shear (Banquo and Others) returns to CSC after previously working on Romeo and Juliet Student Matinee (2024) Twelfth Night (2022). and Shakespeare Beyond's A Midsummer Night's Dream (2023) as fight/intimacy director. They are a local Performer, Fight & Intimacy Choreographer, and Teaching Artist. Select Performance Credits: Washington National Opera, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Adventure Theatre, Live Action Theatre, Baltimore Shakespeare Factory, The Strand Theatre, Horwitz Performing Arts Center, Maryland Renaissance Festival, et al. Resident Teaching Artist: Signature Theatre. Additional Teaching Experience: Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Madeira School, Holton Arms, The Landon School, among many others. Recipient of The Kennedy Center ACTF Certificate for Excellence in Fight Choreography in 2019. AAC with the SAFD, IAC with FDC, stunt training in the UK and Ireland. Mallory has been on staff at many regional stage combat workshops, is an associate member of SDC, and founder of Shear Combat, LLC.

Amber Smithers (Witch 3, Macduff’s Son, and Others) is making her CSC debut in Macbeth (Witch 3 and others). Recent regional acting credits: Arts on the Horizon in Deep Sea Melody (Diver), Arco Iris (U/S Actor 2 y Actor 3), Olney Theatre Company’s National Players Tour 73 Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice).

Daniel Sakamoto Wengel (Malcolm and Others) returns to CSC after performing in Romeo & Juliet (2024). Other credits include The Events (Guthrie Theatre); The Legend of Georgia McBride (Woodstock Arts); A Great Migration (B Street Theatre); Amy’s View, Flower Drum Song (Park Square Theatre); Harvey, Angel Street (Kansas Repertory Theatre); South Pacific (City Springs Theatre Company); R&J:60 (Atlanta Shakespeare Company); Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Center For Puppetry Arts); 365 Days/365 Plays (Full Circle Theatre); Paradise, Stayed (Pumphouse Players); Hopscotch (Doghouse Ensemble Theatre); Twelfth Night (BARD Shakes); The Imaginary Invalid (Combustible Theatre Company); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Cradle Theatre Company).

Joshua Williams (Macbeth) returns to CSC after having previously appeared as Sir High Evans in The Merry Wives of Windsor (2024), Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet Student Matinee (2023, 2024) and Shakespeare Beyond's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (2023). Other recent credits include: Iphigenia (Achilles, We Happy Few); Rhinoceros! (Papillon, Pointless Theatre Company); Macbeth (Macbeth, Hoosier Shakespeare Festival); Merry Wives of Windsor (Dr. Caius, Hoosier Shakespeare Festival}; Henry IV Part 2 (Hotspur, Brave Spirits Theatre).

UNDERSTUDY BIOS

Gabriel Alejandro (u/s Macbeth, Macduff) Chesapeake Shakespeare Company: As You Like It, The Oresteia; Folger Theatre: Romeo & Juliet; Devil’s Isle Shakespeare Co.: As You Like It; Prologue Theatre: Marjorie Prime; Keegan Theater: The Wilting Point; Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy: Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Pericles, Twelfth Night; International: Odin Teatret: Barter; Sine Qua Non Art: Kommos; CBA Santurce: Mujeres del Alba; CBA Humacao: Sueños de Colores. @galejandro

Rakell Foye (u/s Lady Macbeth/Witch 3) is making her CSC debut. Foye is a multi-hyphenate with experience in acting, dancing, and costume design. Recent credits: You Too? and Little Women (Strand Theater Company), The Delicate Flower (Bowie Playhouse). Foye also participated in Rorschach Theatre’s Klecksography 2024. Education: Bowie State University B.S Acting/Directing."

Katie Ganem (u/s Witch 1 & 2) is excited to be making her CSC debut. Previous credits include As You Like It (Devil's Isle Shakespeare), Twelfth Night the Musical, Macbeth, Alls Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure (STC Academy), 19 the Musical (Through the Fourth Wall), Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged (Fat & Greasy Citizens Brigade) ...Putnam County Spelling Bee (Starstuff Theatre Collective), Into the Woods (purple light theatre co), Urinetown (Heritage Players). Education: MFA, STC Academy at GWU.

Vanessa Strickland (u/s Banquo & Malcolm) is happy to return to CSC after working on Joe Turner's Come and Gone as the Child Minder. Previous CSC credits include: Understudy for Merry Wives of Windsor, and Child Minder for The Oresteia and A Christmas Carol. She has also worked with Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET) in Frederick, MD as a performer, puppeteer and teaching artist. Past roles with MET include: The Glass Menagerie, Frankenstein, The Elephant Man, Antigone, A Clockwork Orange, Dracula and others.

Jacqueline Youm (u/s Duncan | Porter | Doctor) returns to Chesapeake Shakespeare Company after previously appearing in Shakespeare Beyond’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2023). She is a Senegalese-American actor, lawyer, and French, English, Spanish, Mediation, Negotiation, and Acting teacher. Some favorite credits include Richard II (Unstrung Harpist); Miss Evers’ Boys, Consecrated Ground (Laurel Mill Playhouse); Nollywood Dreams (Round House Theatre) [Helen Hayes Nomination]; King Hedley II (Dominion Stage) [2023 Watch Award]; The Trip (Best Medicine Rep) [Helen Hayes Nomination]; A Doll’s House Part II (Silver Spring Stage); The Sleepover (Sisters Freehold). To connect: Youtube (Cestjackie) | Instagram: @jy_artiste | Facebook: Jacqueline Elisabeth | https://linktr.ee/jacquelineyoum

Katie Keddell (Director) is a director, dramaturg, and theatre educator who has worked in educational, non-profit, community, and professional theatre settings for over 15 years. She is an MFA candidate at the University of Idaho with a focus on sustainable, consent-based, and universally designed theatre practices. Katie is an artist who specializes in original theatre works, accessibility, viewpoints, and heightened texts. Katie is the Theatre Director and Teacher for the St. Paul’s Schools. She served as the Devising Dramaturg for Body—a verbatim devised piece Capital Fringe Festival. Directing credits include the Youth Production Ensemble of Everyman Theatre, Chesapeake Shakespeare’s site-specific Romeo and Juliet, and Men on Boats for Cohesion Theatre Company.

Katie is a published author in Youth Theatre and the Kennedy Center Professional Papers journals for accessible arts program research. Katie has been a presenter for the American Alliance for Theatre and Education and Leadership Exchange for the Arts and Disability national conferences.  Katie has an MA in Theatre Arts from San Diego State University, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and is a member of Scholars without Borders for her work in Casablanca, Morocco.

Sam Linc (Stage Manager) is the stage manager for MacBeth. This is their first show with CSC. Regional shows include: Constellation Theatre Company: Desperate Measures (Light Board Operator), Once On This Island (Light Board Operator); The Keegan Theatre: Seussical (Co-Stage Manager), Push The Button (Stage Manager), Boiler Room Series Push The Button (Stage Manager); Summer Dinner Theatre: Little Women (Lighting Intern), Falsettos (Lighting Intern), Spamalot (Stage Manager).

Martin Smith (Assistant Stage Manager) is a recent graduate of Morgan State University. He has designed lights, sound, and projections for numerous shows at the Turpin-Lamb Theatre. Most recently, he was the board operator do Chesapeake Shakespeare’s 2024 production of Romeo and Juliet, and he was lighting designer for Variations on Change with Rapid Lemon Productions. He is also a playwright and directed his original work Dream and Disconnect at the Turpin-Lamb Theatre. Currently, Martin is a sound technician/board operator for Everyman Theatre.

Dan O'Brien (Set & Lighting Design) is a founding member of CSC. Daniel has performed, designed scenery, lights, and served as Technical Director for many productions (among other jobs too numerous to name). He oversaw the construction of CSC’s theatre in Baltimore and designed the sets and lighting for Macbeth (2016); for the inaugural season plays A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard II; Romeo and Juliet (2015-2019); A Christmas Carol (2014-2019), and many others.

Ian Gallanar (Sound Design) In addition to founding the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company in 2002, Ian has worked as a professional actor, director, and writer for more than 150 professional productions. He has directed 40 productions for CSC. Previously, Ian has served as Artistic Director for the National Theatre for Children, Minnesota Shakespeare in the Park, and the Repertory Theater of America. Ian is a proud member of the distinguished National Theatre Conference and the Dramatists Guild of America; a Helen Hayes Tribute Award, Telly Award, and Howie Award (Howard County Arts Council) winner. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he is a Member of the College of Fine Arts Advancement Council. He is Immediate Past President of the international Shakespeare Theatre Association, an organization for professional Shakespeare companies around the globe.

Kristina Lambdin (Costume Design) won the Broadway World Best Costume Design award for her designs for A Christmas Carol (2016). Some of her costuming credits with CSC include Dracula (2013 and 2019); The Diary of Anne Frank; She Stoops to Conquer; Alice in Wonderland; Red Velvet; Anne of the Thousand Days; The Fantasticks; Macbeth (2016); A Christmas Carol (2014-2018); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2005, 2011 and 2014); The Importance of Being Earnest; The Taming of the Shrew (2006 and 2013); Romeo and Juliet (2003, 2012, and student matinees 2015-2019); A Doll’s House; As You Like It (Broadway World Best of Baltimore Award); and The Country Wife. Broadway World named her as a top artist of the 2007 Baltimore Theatre, and she won the Greater Baltimore Theater Award for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2005). For more than a decade, she served as the Costume Supervisor for the Baltimore Opera Company and then Lyric Opera Baltimore.

Julia Ross (Music Director) is excited to be a part of her first Chesapeake Shakespeare Company production! Imagination Stage (Bethesda, MD) credits include Music Director Cover for Miss Nelson is Missing, Music Director for Singing in the Rain Jr., Composer/Sound Designer for Jungle Discovery, and Composer/Music Director for (Im)Perfect: A Tale of Two Worlds. Julia is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and, over the past year, has worked as a music director, director, and teaching artist, teaching over 400 students from Pre-K to High School.

Bess Kaye (Fight Choreographer/Intimacy Director) is an actor and Fight and Intimacy Director based in DC working on her 7th CSC show. After becoming an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, she began working as an Associate Instructor teaching armed and unarmed stage combat techniques at various regional workshops throughout the country. Bess is also the Company Fight and Intimacy Director at Devil’s Isle Shakespeare and has choreographed movement, fights, and intimacy for “Romeo & Juliet”, “As You Like It”, and a musical version of "The Tempest”. She has choreographed 18 Shakespeare plays and counting including six productions of “Macbeth”. Her stories of love and violence have appeared at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Monumental Theatre Company, Flying V, NestStop Theatre, the Washington Stage Guild, and Avant Bard. She holds an MFA in Classical Acting from STC and serves as adjunct faculty teaching theatrical intimacy education for the current cohort of MFA candidates. thebesskayescenario.com

Kayla Earl (Board Operator) is an artist who strives to bring multifaceted, underrepresented people to the forefront of theatre. As she pursued her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre at SMU, Kayla worked as a student worker for the production team in the arts building. After graduating in 2023, Kayla moved back home to the DMV and continued growing in their theatre journey. Currently they are working as Stage Manager for Mount Vernon Children’s Community Theater in VA, and was a tech and understudy for a show featured in the Baltimore Charm City Fringe Festival.