The 2025 Company
The Taming of the Shrew / Othello
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Laura Axelrod
Katherine / Desdemona
Laura Axelrod is happy to be sharing some outdoor theater magic with you! Last summer at CCSFC, she played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and in 2023 sdhe was Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing and Celia in As You Like It. Other favorite roles include: Lydia in Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly, Shelby in Steel Magnolias, and Snookie in 110 in the Shade. She was most recently assistant to the director at "Arts for Autism": a Broadway benefit concert at the New Amsterdam Theater in NYC for the third year in a row. The Hartt School BFA Actor Training. Cheers! IG: @lauraxelrod
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Reid Williams
Petruchio / Cassio
www.yellowboxcircus.com
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Bernard Cornwell
Gremio /BrabantioBernard Cornwell appeared on the Monomoy Theatre stage in Chatham for over a decade, playing kings, servants, gentry and paupers. Born in London, he had a career in British television before a blonde lured him to the States where, to keep the wolf from the door, he began writing and is now the author of over fifty novels. He performed a cameo role in the third season of The Last Kingdom, a Netflix Original series based on his books. He, Judy (the blonde) and their dog Vicky divide their time between homes in Chatham and Charleston, S.C.
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Christopher Andrew Rowe
Hortensio/ Othello
Christopher Andrew Rowe is an actor and director based in Hartford, CT. He is honored to return for his fourth season! Select CCSFC credits include Friar Laurence in Romeo & Juliet, Silvius/Charles in As You Like It, and Borachio in Much Ado About Nothing. Other credits include: Baltimore (ARTFARM), Swiped (Ivoryton Playhouse), Sweat, As You Like It (Capital Classics). Directing: Cyrano de Bergerac, Constellations (The Hartt School). Water by the Spoonful (Capital Classics). Co-Director: Twelfth Night (CCSFC), Assistant Director: Dishwasher Dreams, Lost in Yonkers (Hartford Stage). Associate Director: Julius Caesar (ACON). Education: BFA Acting, The Hartt School. Website: www.christopherandrewrowe.com / IG:@christopher.rowe
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Heriberto Cruz, Jr
Grumio / Iago
Heriberto Cruz, Jr. is an artist, educator, and funny dude based out of Hartford, CT. He is elated to return for another summer performing Shakespeare in Chatham. “Thank you to everyone involved with CCSFC for making this wonderful experience possible! Love always to Mom, Dad, Leo, & Tito.” Cape Cod: Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night’s Dream (CCSFC), You Can’t Take It With You (Monomoy Theatre). Regional: Quixote Nuevo; alongside Emilio Delgado (Hartford Stage), Water by the Spoonful, Sweat (Capital Classics Theatre), The River Bride (PA Shakespeare Festival). Education: BFA Acting, The Hartt School. Instagram: @eddiecruzjr - Website: www.eddiecruzjr.weebly.com "
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Matthew Werner
Tranio / Roderigo
Matthew Werner is an actor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. An alumni of The Hartt School of Music, Dance, and Theatre, Matthew is excited to be returning to Cape Cod, where he first performed with the Monomoy Theater. This is his third season with the CCSFC. He played Sir Andrew Aquecheek in 12th Night, Francis Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Prince Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing and Corin in As You Like It .
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Skyler Wright
Biandello / Montano
Skyler Wright is excited to be performing in the CCSFC for his second season! Last summer he played George Seacol in Much Ado About Nothing and Jake DeBois in As You Like It. Skyler will be a Junior BFA Musical Theatre student at the University of Hartford. So far at Hartt, he has stage managed Godspell, Assistant directed a student production of The Beautiful Dark and read stage directions for a reading of the Children's Hour at Hartford Stage. Skyler has also performed in Peter Pan at the Fulton Theatre. He would like to thank his friends and family for their constant support. He hopes to make you laugh! Instagram: skyler._.wright
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Scott Hamilton
Babtista / Lodovico
Scott Hamilton was born and raised in rural Southwest Iowa. He left the cornfields to join The Covenant Players, an international repertory Christian theatre company in 1978 and spent the next 15 years performing on 4 continents while learning his stagecraft and broadening his Midwest Worldview. Since moving to Cape Cod in 1993 with his wife, Kathy, and their young family, Scott has performed with The Chatham Drama Guild, The Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans, Monomoy Theatre, and many special events in and around Chatham and the Lower Cape. Scott hopes to continue performing and directing in and around his washashore home base of Chatham and can be seen appearing daily at Chatham Jewelers where he manages the family business in-between theatrical adventures.
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Holly Hill
Bianca / Emilia
Holly is thrilled to be back on the east coast with her friends and former professors in Chatham this summer! It is wonderful to take part in offering Shakespeare to a broad audience, Holly can remember her first experience with Shakespeare on a blanket in the grass on a warm summer night. When she’s not gallivanting with her old college mates, you can find her in Los Angeles on set or trying to get on to one. Currently, she’s awaiting the premiere of two short films for this coming year, Words with Friends (Tess) and Midsummer (Lysander). Other credits include: Big River (Jackson Hole Playhouse), You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Actor’s Company of Natick), A Christmas Carol (Hartford Stage).
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Shelby Barrett-WhitmoreStage Manager/ Bianca
Shelby Barrett-Whitmore is happy to return to CCSFC for her second season. Last Summer she played Audrey in As You Like It and a Member of the Watch in Much Ado About Nothing. She grew up doing Shakespeare in the summers at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum and is excited for yet another full circle moment. Shelby is a current acting major at the Hartt School in the University of Hartford. Her recent experience includes Stephanie/Carly/Kent in Reasons to be Happy, Jackie Noelle in Disaster!, and King Claudius in an all female production of Hamlet.
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Todd Cashdollar
Pedant /
Although Todd Cashdollar lives in the town of Sandwich, he enjoys performing in Chatham theatres. He played Charles Condomine in "Blithe Spirit" (Chatham Drama Guild, 2021), and Uncle Fester in "The Addams Family Musical" (Chatham Drama Guild, 2019). In 2018, Todd played Big Jule in "Guys & Dolls" (Monomoy Theatre), as well as parts in "Once In A Lifetime" (2017) and "Johnny On A Spot" (2016), also at Monomoy. Todd played Robin Starvling in A Midsummer Night's Dream in CCSFC's inaugural season and last summer he played The Sexton in Much Ado and Oliver Martext in As You Like It.
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Timothy Burroughs
Vincentio / Duke of Venice & Ensemble
Tim was a director for many years at Independent high schools in Japan and Manhattan. He himself first jumped on stage in Orleans at The Academy of Performing Arts with Les Miserables and Man of La Mancha. Favorite shows in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan were in She Loves Me, The Pajama Game, and Annie Get Your Gun. Since Tim and family moved almost permanently to Chatham during COVID, some of his recent performances were in Carousel and Something Rotten at The Falmouth Theater Guild; The Sound of Music at The Cotuit Center for the Arts; and Annie and Guys and Dolls at the APA. The Shakespeare Festival at Chatham's Kate Gould Park is as close as you can get to Stratford-upon-Avon!
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Ann Frechette
The Widow & Ensemble./
Ann is thrilled to make her debut with the Cape Cod Shakespeare Festival. Ann studied and performed Shakespeare as a literature major in college and has since performed with the Footlight Club as an actor and with the Bernoulli Winds Ensemble as a flutist. She lives in Harwich and Brookline with her husband and children. She is excited to work with such a talented cast!
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Tessa Dufrene
Costume Coordinator
Tessa Dufrene is from New Orleans . A dancer of 15 years, Tessa began their career as a visual artist. Since then, Tessa has expanded their scope to include various performing disciplines. A member of YellowBox Circus, Tessa specializes in partner acrobatics, juggling, stilt walking, and clowning. Most recently Tessa was Stage Manager for Treasure Island (THE NOLA PROJECT). Tessa has a history in the film industry as an actor, and behind the scenes work in costuming, props, and set design for short films.
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Miles Bayer
Lucentio/ Ensemble
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Ace Agnes
Ensemble/ Ensemble
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Bailey Dahl
Production Manager / Stage Manager
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Alan Rust
Director The Taming of The Shrew
Alan was artistic director of the Monomoy Theatre in Chatham for 39 years, directing and acting in many of the 300 productions under his leadership. He has appeared at the Hartford Stage, The Cleveland Playhouse, The Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Stage West, The
Northern Stage Company and The North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. He has directed over one hundred productions in university and professional theatres in the United States as well as Sydney, Australia, Goteborg, Sweden, Birmingham, England and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He has been a member of the International Theatre Institute and a panelist at conferences in Istanbul, Turkey and in the former SovietUnion. He served as president of the National Theatre Conference for two terms and has been a member of numerous committees in national and international theatre programs. He was a founding member of the World Theatre Training Institute establish in Vienna Austria. He has held positions at The University of Washington, The State University of New York at Purchase, The University of Detroit, The NorthCarolina School of the Arts, where he served as Dean, The University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where he was the head of the Acting Program and the University of Hartford where he was the Director of the Theatre Division of the Hartt School.
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Terry Layman
Director of Othello
Terry Layman’s Broadway acting credits include Tony-nominated Twelve Angry Men, Arthur Miller’s Ride Down Mount Morgan with Patrick Stewart and Proof. His many Off-Broadway shows include Shaw’s Widowers’ Houses, the premiere of Regrets Only with Christine Baranski and several comedy revivals at the Manhattan Punchline. He toured the Country in Proof and in The Royal Family with Eva LeGallienne and Sam Levene. Internationally, he directed Other People’s Money in Prague and played London and Birmingham in Continental Divide-Daughters of the Revolution. He has performed at dozens of regional theatres from Florida to Alaska. He has played Ludie in Trip to Bountiful with Ellen Burstyn and Leo in The Little Foxes with Geraldine Page. He was a member of The Actors Company Theatre (TACT) in NYC for many years where he both acted and directed. He played King Lear, Prospero and other classical roles with The Titan Theatre Co. in Queens, NY., where he also directed. He spent 22 summers acting and directing at The Monomoy Theatre on Cape Cod and he has guest directed for many years at the Hartt School and at Marshall University. His TV and film appearances include "The Patriot", "Bored to Death," “Rubicon”, “Ed”, “Law and Order”, and “L&O SVU” and most NY soap operas.
WEBSITE: terrylayman.info
