Deanna Jent is a Professor of Theatre at Fontbonne University. Her play Falling won the Kevin Kline award for Best New Play of 2011 and was nominated for a Drama Desk Best Play award following its Off-Broadway run in 2012. Falling is published by Dramatists Play Service and continues to be produced nationally and internationally. Her adaptations of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces have been performed at theatres around the country. Other plays include Bosnian/American: The Dance For Life, Imaginary Jesus and Six. Sisters. She was the artistic director of Mustard Seed Theatre company from 2007-2019, and has directed for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, New Jewish Theatre, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Touring Company, The Orange Girls and ACT Inc. She was named “Best Director of a Musical by the St. Louis Theatre Circle for Mustard Seed Theatre’s productions of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 and Godspell. She has a BFA from Illinois Wesleyan University and a PhD from Northwestern University.

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.

Dunsi has designed both on Off-Broadway as well as at regional theatres across the country. The scope of his design works includes: straight drama, musical, opera, experimental production, children theatre, corporative theatre, and special event. Representative works include RITA’S RESOURCE (Pan Asian Rep, NYC), ONCE UPON THE MATRASS (Brook Hollow Players, NY), CARMAN (Trenton State Theatre, NJ), DESERT SONG (Hampton Playhouse, NH), WEST SIDE STORY (Struthers Library Theatre, PA), MARA/SADE (Stanford Rep, CA), BIG RIVER (Human Race Theatre, OH), BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY (True Color Theatre, Atlanta), WIT (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), WAITING FOR GODOT (St. Louis Black Rep.), FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (Stages of St. Louis), 1776 (Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, MO), TWO HEADED (Black Cat Theatre, MO), GREY GARDEN, and INDECENT (Max&Louie Productions, MO), THE NIGHT OF IGUANA, and GLASS MANIGERY (Tennessee Williams Festival). His set design for Mustard Seed Theatre’s REMNANT received a Kevin Kline award in the category of Out Standing Scene Design. He was the Best Scene Designer on St. Louis Today’s “2015 Go List”, and “2018 Go List”. He received his BA in scene design from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing (1982), received his MA in Theatre History and Stage Design from Stanford University (1989), and received his MFA in scene design from University of Illinois at Urbana- Champing (1992). Dunsi is a professor of scene design at the Conservatory of Theatre Arts in Webster University. He has a web site at http://faculty.webster.edu/daidu.

Michele returns to the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival having designed Educational Tour shows Cymbeline, Macbeth, A Most Outrageous Fit of Madness and Found At Sea as well as the St. Louis Theatre Circle nominated Into the Breeches! Recent St. Louis credits include Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Intimate Apparel, for New Jewish Theatre, The Rose Tattoo, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire for TWStL, Proof, Jake’s Women for Moonstone Theatre, The Tempest, The Heir Apparent (St. Louis Theatre Circle Nominee), for St. Louis Shakespeare, The Agitators, Infected, for Upstream Theatre and Blithe Spirit, Waiting for Godot for St. Louis Actors’ Studio.

M. Bryant Powell is a well-rounded lighting designer who prides himself on being able to work with a diverse group of collaborators towards a common goal. He believes in the raw transformation power of events/shows and loves being able to spread his love of creating great experiences through his work.  Previously: Shakespeare in the Streets: “The Ville Avegeance!”.

Kathryn is delighted to be back with the Festival having previously worked with the Q Brothers on Dress the Part and with Nancy Bell on Into the Breeches. Kathryn has worked in theatre locally with STAGES St. Louis, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre, New Jewish Theatre, Tennessee Williams Festival, The New Theatre, Imaginary Theatre Co., Historyonics, off the cuff theatre, Muny Student Theatre Project and Muny 1st Stage. Her regional credits include Buena Vista Productions, Barter Theatre, Horse Cave Theatre and Nebraska Theatre Caravan.

Miranda Jagels Félix is a proud St. Louis theater artist, originally from Madrid, Spain. After SATE empowered her to direct for the first time a wonderful scene from The Rover for the Aphra Behn Festival, she knew that she wanted to further explore the art of directing. She is thrilled and grateful for her next adventure with St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.

Originally from Austin Texas, Molly holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. Recent credits include Louise Rabiner in Dear Jack, Dear Louise (New Jewish Theatre), Olivia in Twelfth Night (Piknik Theatre), and Mary Debenham in Murder on the Orient Express (Charleston Stage Company). Molly is so grateful to be a part of Shakespeare in the Streets and would like to thank her family, friends, and fiancé Eli for all of the love and support. www.mollyburris.com 

Hannah Geisz is slap-happy to get to spend time with the Festival! Previous Credits Include: Othello and Cymbeline (St. Louis Shakespeare Festiva Toursl), Tunesmith (Bluff City Theatre), The Lonesome West (West End Players Guild), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Cats Cradle Theatre), Tonya and the Totes in Subterrastrata (SATE Aphra Behn Festival), Ozark Actors Theatre 2019 Summer Season, and Into the Woods (The MUNY in St. Louis). Hannahgeisz.com / 1 Cor. 1:31

Nadja Kapetanovich is very honored to be appearing in this production. She has acted, sang, and danced in many local plays and musicals. Some of her most recent roles include The Dove in Children of Eden, Polly Meara in The Gingerbread Lady, and Annie in Less – The Experience of Being Homeless. She is very excited to be playing Esther Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis this December. At Alton High School, Nadja plays tennis and participates in choir and several academic clubs. She would like to thank Adam for inviting her to join in this endeavor and her friends and family for their constant support.

Noah Laster is an actor, musician, and writer who has been a part of several St. Louis theater productions including The Worker’s Opera and the original play Jailbird. Having been offstage since 2019, he is excited to be performing with St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and is currently working on his first album of original music to be released next year.

Colin McLaughlin is a Saint Louis-based playwright, musician, teaching artist, and social worker.  He received his Bachelor’s in Social Work from Saint Louis University. He is a member of the IMPACT Academy Players with the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Theater Department, a Project Manager at CHIPS Health and Wellness Center, and a founding member of The Action Art Collaborative. His plays have been produced regionally and nationally, most recently Jailbird at The Missouri History Museum and Real Talk in the 2021 COCAwrites Festival. Colin was a hospital clown at St. Louis Children’s Hospital for 5 years, and worked as a humanitarian clown in Guatemala and Peru with The Gesundheit Institute. He can be seen onstage this year in The Big Machine with Creative Center of Arts, and in RS Theatrics upcoming production of Once. He has worked as a teaching artist in Saint Louis for 5 years, collaborating with the Bread & Roses Youth Initiative, CLUB CHIPS at CHIPS Health and Wellness Center, COCA and Intersect Arts Center. Colin is thrilled to join the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival team and work with the incredible students of Sumner High School.

Born and raised in St Louis; I  have been a Proud Bevo resident for 40+ years. My late husband Mike And I raised our two daughters in Bevo. I am a retired nurse; always looking for fun and interesting opportunities in life. I am excited to be a part of Shakespeare in the Streets, especially in my community! Thanks to my daughters for Always going along on my adventures!

Christina is an actor, opera singer, director, producer, vocal coach, and intimacy coordinator here in St. Louis. When not on the stage or preparing others to be there, Ms. Rios is a teacher at The Wilson School in Clayton, where she teaches 4th grade and makes endless puns and “Mom jokes”.  Christina is the mother of four incredible children, the partner of an wonderful human being, and a true believer in the power of art. ¡Muchas gracias por esta oportunidad!

Rosario is thrilled to make her St. Louis Shakespeare Festival debut! Ms. Rios-Kelley is a 5th grader at MICDS who likes to spend her time in St. Louis Children’s Choir, watching MST3K with her family, hanging out with friends, playing with her cat, and reading every book she can get her hands on!

Carly is thrilled to be working with St. Louis Shakespeare Festival for Shakespeare in the Streets! Based in St. Louis, she has worked with St. Louis Actor’s Studio, Moonstone Theatre Company, Black Mirror Theatre, Mustard Seed, and Tesseract. She is a recipient of the STL Theatre Circle Award for best-supporting actress (Translations – The Black Mirror Theatre). She is also the Assistant Director of Programming for The Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries. Thank you to Adam and Deanna, my family, and my friends for their continued guidance and support.

Father Mitch Doyen first arrived at St. John the Baptist in 1991. After a couple of terms as head of school at St. Mary’s High School and eleven years of service in the Catholic Education Office, he spent five years as pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in O’Fallon, MO. In 2020 it was time to return to his roots to join St. John the Baptist again in this great mission of sharing God’s love with the world. In the spirit of John the Baptist and with devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. God bless you.

KTK is the shortened representation of K’s Theatrical Korps. KTK began as a living memorial to a local drama teacher, Fred Kuppinger. He was affectionally known as “Mr. K” to all who knew him. KTK has been performing in the South St. Louis City area since its inception in 1982. We are currently located at St. John the Baptist Catholic Parish on Delor. We currently produce three productions per season and also provide a children’s summer program. We are open to participants of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities and all levels of experience. We strive to embody the “ensemble spirit” which means respect for all and to create a family atmosphere. If you think that this might interest you, please contact us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ktkproductions1, our website at kurtainkall.org, by email at ktktheater@gmail.com or by our ticket line: (314) 351-8984.