Cast for The Seagull and A Midsummer Night's Dream

	Michael Abts (Demetrius, Treplev) reprising his role in The Seagull, has worked with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Shakespeare Company, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival – Shakespeare on Tour, Ross Valley Players, Naked Masks Theatre Company, The Belrose Theatre, Off Market Theatre, and SAFE Place Productions. He holds a Certificate from the British American Drama Academy – Midsummer in Oxford, and a BA in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University. This Fall, he pursues his MFA at the Academy of Classical Acting in Washington, D.C. www.michaelabts.com
	Lisa Ackerman (First Fairy-Peasblossom) served as SA’s stage manager for Twelfth Night and house manager for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. She has performed in over fifteen productions with numerous companies in the East Bay Area and continues to be involved in theatre at Harvard, where she is a junior English major.
	Timothy Anton Ackerman (Snug the Joyner, Shamrayev) first appeared with Shakespeare’s Associates in Twelfth Night. He has worked with The Asbury Players (12 Angry Jurors, Exit the Body, Fiddler on the Roof), Las Positas College (Shakespeare in Hollywood, City of Angels), and The Senior Players. The backbone of his life is his wife, Nancy, and his daughter, Lisa. It is thanks to them that he is able to pursue this unusual “hobby.”
	Carley Bain (Hippolyta) is thrilled to perform with Shakespeare's Associates. Carley studied Theater Arts at University of the Pacific. Her favorite roles include Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest and Mable Tidings in Pride's Crossing. She dedicates her return to the theater to her mom and looks forward to many more productions in the future.
	Matthew Ballin (Bottom) was seen at LSF as one of the twin Dromios in the Comedy of Errors, and appeared in As You Like It at Retzlaff Winery. He holds a BFA in Theater from UC Santa Barbara and an MFA from Ohio State. He is the Drama Director at Washington High School in Fremont and lives in Castro Valley with his wife Pam, daughters Emmy and Hannah, and spaniel “Bing.”
	Chris Dewey (Flute-Thisby) is happy to be working with Livermore Shakespeare for a third time. An intern for Comedy of Errors, he acted in Twelfth Night and worked backstage for Compleat Works. He recently played Treplev in University of the Pacific’s production of The Seagull, before graduating in May with a degree in Theater Arts.
	Brinda Dixit (First Fairy-Mustardseed, Yelsa) is a GATE sophmore at Livermore High School and appeared with SA as Yelsa in The Seagull. She played Eurydice in Antigone and Luciana in Comedy of Errors at LHS and was also in Fall Out Boy's latest music video.
	Sweetha Dixit (Mote, Cook) appeared in The Seagull with Shakespeare's Associates. She has worked properties and performed with Young Audiences of Northern California, Oakland Children's Fairyland, Livermore Schools and Las Positas College where she was honored with a Lucas Performing Arts Award. She teaches Bharatanatyam at Kalaikoil school in Dublin.
	Rob Evans (Starveling/Composer-Sound Designer) has served as an actor, lighting and sound designer, musical director, stage manager, and composer. His latest work for SA includes composing an original score for, and performing in Twelfth Night, and the sound designs for Copenhagen and The Seagull. He has performed in pit orchestras for over twenty musicals, and currently plays saxophone with the Rob Evans Quartet, a jazz ensemble playing standards around the Bay Area. He is also one of the creative brains at Mastermind Treasure Hunts.
	Ryan Heath (Fox) is at San Diego State University double majoring in Theatre Arts and Television, Film, and New Media. In high school, he played in six shows including Macbeth, Urinetown, and Comedy of Errors. At SD State he toured with a children’s show. This is his first role with LSF and is loving every minute of it. He would like to thank his friends and family for all of their support.
	James Hiser (Robin Goodfellow a.k.a. Puck) returns to LSF after performing in The Complete Works of Wm. Shakespeare, Abridged, and Twelfth Night (Malvolio). He has appeared in Shakespeare festivals and touring productions across the country, and on stages throughout California. Film credits: Mumford, Interview with the Assassin, Bottle Shock, Hand To Hand: The Art of Combat, Sexual Tension: The Super Adventures of Steve and Stephen, and Grave Dawn. Television credits: Nash Bridges, PBS’s “Ralph Ellison’s King of the Bingo Game,” national commercials for Hardee’s, Diet Coke, and AMP Energy drink. Jim is a proud member of the Screen Actor’s Guild.
	Seth Kernes (Turtle, Yakov) worked with Shakespeare's Associates, acting in The Seagull and crewing Copenhagen (sound board operator), and also worked with Livermore High School Theatre. He will be attending Los Positas College in the fall.
	Hannah Knapp (Titania, Nina) returns to Livermore after performing at Concannon and Retzlaff for several summers (Twelfth Night, All's Well, As You Like It) and playing Catherine in Shakespeare's Associates' Proof last spring. A company member of Precarious Theatre in San Francisco, she most recently originated the role of Luscinda in their new musical I'm Yours! or, Deranged by Love. BA, French and Theater Theory & Performance, Mount Holyoke College.
	Anita Kutty (Grapeseed) the youngest member of the acting company this summer, has studied dance for 8 years and performs with the Kalaikoil school in Dublin. She has acted in Grease, and plays the tuba.
	Michele Leavy (Arcadina) has performed locally with such companies as the American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, CCT, Center REPertory Company, TheatreWorks, and the Livermore Shakespeare Festival. Michele is a Resident Artist with Crowded Fire Theatre Company, and serves on the faculty of the UC Davis Dept. of Theatre and Dance and the American Conservatory Theatre. She is a member of Actors Equity Association.
	Nikolai Lokteff (Snout, Dr. Dorn) has appeared in numerous productions for Shakespeare's Associates, including Twelfth Night (Sir Toby) and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)(revised). He has also worked with The Willows, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Shakespeare Co., and others. Nikolai has studied with Studio ACT and the Moscow Art Theater. When not on stage, he co-creates treasure hunts for Mastermindhunts.com, teaches at Ex'pression College in Emeryville, and creates graphic design for Shakespeare's Associates.
	Chris Macomber (Widow Quince) is appearing in her third show with Shakespeare’s Associates following Twelfth Night and Comedy of Errors. Chris has had principal roles with Lamplighters and 42nd Street Moon in San Francisco and has performed with other companies for the last four years. She won a Bay Area Theater Critics’ Circle award for The Cocktail Hour at Ross Valley Players. Chris plays in The Exeter String Quartet.
	Russell Marcel (Oberon) last appeared in the Shakespeare’s Associates production of ‘Art’ and works as the company’s Education Director. A graduate of SCU’s Theatre Arts program and LAMDA’s classical acting program, Russ has acted and directed in NYC, London and SF. Russ currently directs plays and teaches Shakespeare and Acting at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose.
	Richard Massery (Duke Theseus) is pleased to be working with LSF. In April, he performed the role of Niels Bohr in Shakespeare’s Associates production of Copenhagen. Other recent credits include Reverend Parris in The Crucible for New Works New Haven; and M. Bonnicieux in The Three Musketeers, and Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing for the Elm Shakespeare Company in New Haven, CT. Richard studied acting in New York with Sanford Meisner and William Esper.
	Don Meeker (Lord) is pleased to be in his sixth season with SA. Although this is his first experience on stage for this company, he has acted as box office manager, assistant stage manager, producer's associate and rehearsal caterer. Don’s active in the cultural arts community of Livermore working with Livermore Heritage Guild and Bothwell Arts Center. He is also a Human Services Commissioner and a member of Rotary International.
	Miranda Munro (Cobweb) has completed a senior project in dance notation, and graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. She danced for four years at Columbia College Chicago, Diablo Valley College, Moving Arts Dance Center, and Shawl-Anderson Dance Center. She has additional performing arts training from Las Positas College and Danse Boutique. She has also costumed for Moving Arts Dance and Valley Dance Theater.
	Salim Razawi (Philostrate/ Puck US) is excited to be in his first production with Shakespeare Associates. He most recently stage managed Las Positas College's production of Working. Prior to that he has appeared in numerous shows such as; Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, and Shakespeare in Hollywood. He has also worked as an extra in feature films, such as Charlie Wilson's War and The Kite Runner. He currently works as a supervisor for a recreation camp and a after school childcare.
	Eleanor Mason Reinholdt (Helena, Polina) appeared in SA’s The Seagull at the Bankhead Theatre this past November. She has been acting in the Bay Area for many years , working with the California Conservatory Theater, Town Hall Theatre, Impact Theatre Company, Coastal Repertory Theater, Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, Thunderbird Theater Company, and numerous other independent production groups. Most recently Eleanor played Florence Unger in Neil Simon's The Odd Couple (Female Version) at the Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette. www.EleanorMasonReinholdt.com
	Michael Wayne Rice (Trigorin) holds a BA in theatre from California State University Northridge and an MFA from the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC). Michael has worked in New York, Kansas City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. While at UMKC he was fortunate enough to work with the Dell 'Arte School of Physical Theatre. Michael has worked with Shakespeare's Associates as an actor in Cymbeline (Cloten), and As You Like It (Jaques) and directed VSF's The Promise, part of The Wharton One Acts.
	Joseph Salazar (Lysander, Medvedenko) is excited to be part of Livermore Shakespeare festival and the greater Bay Area theater family. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Joseph has been seen on stage as Christian in Cyrano De Bergerac for the Ethos Theater in Southern California. Other roles include Elvis in PCPA’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Estragon in Waiting for Godot and Feste in Twelfth Night.
	Elissa Beth Stebbins (Hermia, Masha) has appeared with Shakespeare's Associates as Viola in Twelfth Night, Diana in All's Well that Ends Well, Phebe in As You Like It, and Willy Porter in The Gifts of the Magi. She has also worked with Eastenders Repertory Company, TheatreWorks and Word for Word. Elissa earned a B.A. in Theatre Arts and English from Santa Clara University.
	William J. Wolak (Egeus, Sorin) has acted and directed in many shows across America for more than 50 years. This summer he reprises the role of Sorin in The Seagull. Recently he has appeared at the Sonora Repertory Theatre and acted and directed at The Western Stage (TWS) in Salinas, where he will direct José Cruz Gonzalez' The Heart's Desire. In the spring he will direct Are you Being Served at the Stockton Civic Theatre.