HAMLET

Christopher V. Edwards (Director) Chris is excited to be here. He is the Artistic Director of Actors’ Shakespeare Project in Boston. In Boston he has directed Pride and Prejudice, Equivocation (Elliot Norton Nomination for Best Play), and Much Ado About Nothing,all with ASP. Some of his favorite shows include: Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Three Musketeers, Around the World in 80 Days, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale, Water by the Spoonful, The Bomb-itty of Errors, How to Break, Venus in Fur,and A Raisin in the Sun. He has worked in London’s West End, Off-Broadway, The National Theatre of Oslo in Norway, The Helix in Ireland, The Fringe in Edinburgh, John Houseman’s The Acting Company, HERE Arts Center, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Penumbra Theatre, The Flea Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, Hip-Hop Theatre Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, SOHO Rep, the Guthrie Theatre, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and Dorset Theater Festival to name a few.  Chris received an M.F.A. from the U. of MN in Association with the Guthrie Theatre. Prior to becoming the Artistic Director of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, he spent three years at Nevada Conservatory Theatre as the Artistic Director and on the faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and fourteen years with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in Garrison, NY as the Associate Artistic Director, the Director of Education and Apprentice Training. He lives in JP with his wife, Jen and daughter, Anya.

Jessica Brennan (Run Crew, Apprentice) Jess is thrilled to have the opportunity of joining the Gloucester Stage Company’s 2019 Apprentice Program! She fell in love with theatre when she was a little girl and has had the privilege of working on many shows both on and off the stage. Jess hails from Leicester, MA and has an MA in Theatre Arts from Middlesex University (London, UK) and a BA in Creative Arts from Siena College (Loudonville, NY). Some of her credits include Top Girls (Ghost Light Players, Stage Manager), When We Came Here (Cuckoo Bang, SM), I Don’t Speak Spanish (Middlesex University, SM), Hamlet (GLP, Assistant Director/Assistant SM), Pippin (GLP,SM), Bach At Leipzig (Flyleaf Theatre, SM), Romeo and Juliet(GLP, SM), Godspell (GLP, Gilmer), and House of Blue Leaves (GLP, AD). Jess would like to thank her family and friends for their continued love and support.

Elizabeth Cahill (Sound Design) Select Sound Design credits include: The Wolves, Road Show, Camelot, and Warrior Class (Lyric Stage), Nixon’s Nixon (New Rep), Small Mouth Sounds, Men on Boats (SpeakEasy Stage), Macbeth, Equivocation(Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Familiar (A.R.T. Institute), Dark Room(Bridge Rep), Nomad Americana(Fresh Ink Theatre), The Magic Flute (New England Conservatory), The Revolutionists, Photograph 51(The Nora), ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas, Alligator Road(Greater Boston Stage Company), The Hotel Nepenthe, Hamlet (BrownBox Theatre Project), Cabaret, Be More Chill, Tick Tick Boom (Baldwin Wallace University). A/V Supervisor for various operas with New England Conservatory, Boston Early Music Festival, and Boston University.  Graduate of Emerson College, BFA Theatre Design/Technology. Elizabethsound.com 

A. W. Nadine Grant (Costume Design) A.W. Nadine Grant is pleased to be making her debut with Gloucester Stage. She is currently the head of Costume Design at Emerson College. Her work has been featured in Canada with design for Trey Anthony Studios, DVxT Theatre, Obsidian Theatre and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival- where she was awarded the 2010 Ian and Molly Lindsay Young Design Fellow. Us Credits include work for the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Theatre for the Thirsty, Afrohouse, and Sleeping Weasel, Actor’s Shakespeare Co. and Speakeasy Theatre. Nadine received her MFA in costume design and technology, University of Missouri- Kansas City. 
“Immigrants – we get the job done”

Aja Jackson (Lighting Design) is a Boston-based lighting designer. Recent regional credits include Hear Word! (American Repertory Theatre), Ragtime (Wheelock Family Theatre), Nat Turner in Jerusalem (Actor’s Shakespeare Project), Straight White Men (New Rep), The Leftovers(Company One – Strand Theatre), The Last Wife (WAM Theatre), and Wit (Calderwood Pavilion – Boston Center of Performing Arts). Other credits include the Midwest tour of What the Wind Taught Me and The Biomorphic Dance Festival in NYC. Aja is Resident Lighting Designer and core collaborator for interdisciplinary, site-specific movement company, Nourishment (www.thisisnourishment.com). Previously she worked as a stage manager with the Denver Center Theatre Company and in Production Management with The Santa Fe Opera. Aja holds an M.F.A. in Lighting Design from Boston University, a B.F.A. in Lighting Design from the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, and a B.A. in Dance Performance from the School of Music. Aja recently was a Mentor in Residence with Brighter Boston, an outreach organization aimed at giving urban teens practical training in event and theatre productions.

Alison McLeod* (Stage Manager)  is delighted to be working with Gloucester Stage Company!  Recent credits: Djembe The Show! (Chicago); Little Fish (Kokandy Productions), New Stages Festival 2016 & 2017, Twist Your Dickens (Goodman Theatre); 1984, The Compass, Between Riverside and Crazy, Straight White Men, BLKS (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Stupid F***ing, The Golden Dragon, Idomeneus (SideShow Theatre Company). Regional credits: Assassins (Flint Repertory), Julius Caesar (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks). Alison is a proud member of AEA and alumna of Northern Illinois University.

Luke Miller (Scenic Design) This production marks Luke’s first scenic design at Gloucester Stage. For the past decade he has worked as a scenic designer, technical director, carpenter, scenic artist, and props artisan for theaters all over New England. He spent the past three years working as the Technical Director and Design Professor at Gordon College in Wenham MA, and is currently based in Jackson MS; working as an Assistant Faculty Member and Technical Director for the Theatre Department at Belhaven University. Luke gained his design skills at the University of Connecticut, earning a Master of Arts in Scenic Design. He would like to thank Chris, Joe, and the entire production staff for the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful show. Finally, he would like to thank his wife Thais, her support and dedication shows ‘there are more things in heaven and earth, then are dreamt of in philosophy’.

Olivia Paluzzi (Assistant Stage Manager, Apprentice) Olivia is a Massachusetts native who recently graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a BFA in Theatre. She has concentrations in both acting and stage management and has a love for the work that happens on and back stage. Her time at URI was filled with participating in many productions, trying everything from carpentry, stage combat, sound board operating, and acting in vastly different roles. To end her senior year, she was the stage manager for an eight show one act festival and found the process challenging but rewarding. She believes having a passion for both the artistic side and logistic side of theatre keeps her well rounded and helps her see things from different perspectives. She can’t wait to see where this new chapter in life leads her and is looking forward to her time at Gloucester Stage.

Alexis Rappaport (Assistant Director, Apprentice) is a recent graduate of College of the Holy Cross who received her BA in Theatre and Psychology. While at Holy Cross, Alexis was able to be involved in a number of different production areas, including directing, acting, sound design, and stage management. Her studies also included the opportunity to spend a summer in London studying dramatic criticism. Last year she worked as an intern with the Ko Festival of Performance in Amherst, MA, where she took on a variety of technical and front of house roles for touring productions. Alexis is looking forward to learning about directing and production management at Gloucester Stage Company, and is thrilled to be working with a company that emphasizes the collaborative processes that are necessary in order to bring a show to life.

ºMember Society of Directors and Choreographers (SDC)