Tom has led the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival since 2018. A Drama Desk-nominated director, he has developed or presented work at the Public Theater, The Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Society, Red Bull and more. He’s worked with Tony nominees Sting, Sherie Rene Scott, Laura Osnes, Will Swenson, Kelli O’Hara, Bill Irwin and others, and his productions have won DFW Theater Critics Forum and ECNY Awards and been nominated for CT Critics Circle and BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards. He also co-founded Waterwell in New York and served as its Artistic Director from 2002-2018. There he created and produced more than a dozen world-premieres and adaptations of classics that were nominated for three IT awards, a Drama Desk, a New York Magazine Culture Award and a Village Voice “Best of NYC”. Known for building innovative community partnerships, he most recently resurrected the lost WWII-era Frank Loesser musicals, Blueprint Specials, featuring Broadway and military veterans and presented on board the former USS Intrepid aircraft carrier, as well as adapting and directing Waterwell’s dual-language (English/Farsi) version of Hamlet, designed and performed by a company of predominantly Middle Eastern and South Asian artists. As Artistic Director of Waterwell, he also oversaw the Waterwell Drama Program at the Professional Performing Arts School, one of the preeminent training grounds for young artists and innovators in the country, which offers daily, year-round, conservatory-style classes to more than 200 New York City public school students absolutely free of charge.

Susan joined the Festival in 2019.  Since returning to her hometown in 1995 Susan has had the pleasure of working for the Arts and Education Council as Vice President of Administration and Grants and at the Saint Louis Art Museum in their Curatorial and Development departments.  Prior to her return Susan worked for The Equitable in Chicago for their commercial real estate division and in New York City managing their corporate art collection and gallery. Her time spent at these institutions helped her develop strong internal and external client relations and a love of the arts.  When Susan isn’t working, she and her husband can be found around town with family and friends taking in all that St. Louis has to offer.

Austin joined the Festival in January 2020. A lifelong arts and humanities enthusiast, Austin has led or consulted on major fundraising campaigns for over a dozen of St. Louis’s premier cultural organizations in the past decade. Most recently, he was the Director of Development and Community Engagement for the Missouri Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit organization and one of five partners in the Missouri Cultural Trust. He holds a BA in English from Fontbonne University with a concentration in professional writing and a minor in American Cultural Studies. As a proud St. Louisan and city booster, Austin is thrilled to bring his development and leadership expertise to Shakespeare Festival St. Louis—one of the city’s cultural gems.

Allie joined the Festival in Fall 2018.  Previously she worked at the Nine Network of Public Media for six years in various development roles, and most recently as Senior Manager of Development. Allie is a board member at The Makers Program, a graduate of the Focus St. Louis Emerging Leaders Program (2018) and Webster University alumna.

Tori joined the Festival in Fall 2019. She holds an MA in Arts Management and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati as well as BA in Theatre Design and Production from University of Northern Iowa. Tori is accustomed to “wearing many hats”, and has worked in non-profit organizations across the country as both an artist and an administrator. She co-founded and costumed designed for a burlesque troupe in her college town, built costumes at the Pacific Conservatory Theatre in California, and planned corporate and social events for a private dining club in Des Moines, Iowa. From 2016 to 2019, Tori oversaw marketing, fundraising, and event planning for Theatre Aspen—a summer theatre in one of the country’s top resort destinations. She is happy to return to the Midwest and connect with a new community of art lovers

Adam is an actor, director, producer and educator based in St. Louis for over a decade. He holds an MFA in directing from Baylor University, and a BFA and teaching certification from Fontbonne University. As an actor, he has performed with over a dozen local professional companies including the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis as part of the Shakespeare in the Streets program in both New World and Blow, Winds. As a founding resident artist of Mustard Seed Theatre he worked in many capacities including helping produce and direct “Bosnian American: The Dance for Life,” a community-engaged project with the Bosnian community of St. Louis. In 2015, Flores acted as a local line producer for the “Every 28 Hour Plays” a collaboration with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the One-Minute Play Festival, and the St. Louis community in response to the Ferguson movement. He began as a theatre educator teaching in the Parkway School district. Later he was Assistant Professor of Theatre at Fontbonne University. He recently also was lead Teaching Artist for the Festival’s Shake 101 teaching residency for the past two years.

Charlie is a playwright, comedian, and nonprofit administrative professional originally from Orange County, CA. They hold an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Iowa, and a BA in Theatre and Jewish Studies from Smith College. They have worked in nonprofit administration, marketing, and development since 2014. They are a board member and playwright-in-residence for The Q Collective, as well as the co-host/co-producer of That Queer Comedy Open Mic. They were a semifinalist in Helium Comedy Club’s St. Louis’ Funniest Person competition in 2019, a two-time semifinalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and have had play readings and productions in New York City, Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Iowa, Seattle, and St. Louis.

Nancy is the author of six Shakespeare in the Streets adaptations, two of which received St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards for Outstanding New Play. She has also written two plays for children inspired by Shakespeare for the Shakespeare Festival Education Program and for the St. Louis Symphony. Nancy was also recognized in 2017 with the St. Louis Visionary Award.  She is the Program Director of Theatre at Saint Louis University.

Robert is Professor of Drama and Comparative Literature at Washington University, and Director of the Washington University Prison Education Project, a program that offers college courses and degrees at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific, Missouri. He has published single-authored books on Shakespeare’s late plays, on  the Italian commedia dell’arte,  and on representations of poverty and charity in early modern theater and performance, and he has edited several books on early modern theater. He is now writing a book on the resonance of Italian scripted and improvised theater in Shakespeare. He is also an actor, having recently performed Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape at Washington University.

Regional stage management credits include New Jewish Theater, Upstream Theater, Arrow Rock Lyceum, The Old Creamery Theatre, Charleston Stage, Triad Stage, and Heritage Repertory Festival. She recently made her directorial debut at The Playhouse at Westport. Emily is a member of Actor’s Equity Association and a proud graduate of the University of Virginia. Please help her cat become an internet sensation by following him on Instagram @SirWadsworthSTL.