LENOX, Mass. – William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors takes over Shakespeare & Company’s outdoor mainstage this summer, directed by Kate Kohler Amory July 13 through August 18 at the Arthur S. Waldstein Amphitheatre.
The Bard’s fast-paced and farcical story of mistaken identities begins with two sets of twins separated by a storm at sea and culminates in a raucous series of misunderstandings and mishaps. Amory’s production is set in the seaside Vaudeville of New York City, 1912 – a mystical and sometimes strange place filled with as much magic and mischief as sailors and sea captains.
“Coney Island vaudeville was an escape and a destination, where the turmoil of American culture at the turn of the century could be seen through frivolity, farce, and play,” said Amory.
“Setting this turn of the 16th Century comedic gem at the turn of the 20th Century, I hope to highlight many of the play’s resonances for our own turn of the 21st Century. It is a fitting setting for Aegeon, and us, to encounter both the farce and the tragedy of his situation.”
Actor, educator, and emerging director Lauren Davis, the inaugural Tina Packer Women of Will Directing Fellow, serves as Assistant Director. The Fellowship was established by actor John Douglas Thompson in 2023, to honor Packer and her groundbreaking career as a Shakespearean, theater artist, and theater leader. It is awarded to a female-identifying emerging theater director with a passion for Shakespeare. In addition to serving as Assistant Director to Amory on The Comedy of Errors, Davis will observe as Packer directs an enhanced staged reading of The Winter’s Tale in August.
Sponsored by Scott and Roxanne Bok, The Comedy of Errors will be outdoors at the Arthur S. Waldstein Amphitheatre with tickets ranging from $22 to $72; preview performances are 10% off and student tickets are $22. On select evenings, food trucks will be on-site for pre-show purchases from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Card-to-Culture tickets are available for $5 for WIC, EBT, and ConnectorCare families.
To purchase tickets, visit shakespeare.org, or call the Box Office at (413) 637-3353.
The cast includes:
Javier David
(Domino of Syracuse)
Javier David is a California-born-and-raised actor based in New York City. Credits include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare & Company) Clyde’s (The Huntington Theatre), Do You Feel Anger? (Kitchen Theater Company), Witch (The Huntington Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Classical Theatre of Harlem), A Dollzes House (Signature Theatre), Cold Read Festival (Syracuse Stage), The Rocky Horror Show (Artist Repertory Theatre), Almost, Maine (L.A. Theatre Center), Commedia (Atelier Teatro Fisico), In The Red And Brown Water (Columbia University), A Street Car Named Desire (Columbia University), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Columbia University). Film: The Changeling (Apple TV). Javier received his M.F.A in Acting from Columbia University (2019) and his B.A. in Performance from San Diego State University (2016). He dedicates his performance to his Nana.
Emma Geer
(Luciana)
Pronouns she / her
Emma is delighted to be back at S&C! Broadway: Prayer for the French Republic (MTC). Off Broadway: World premiere of Prayer for the French Republic (MTC); NYC premiere of Mary Page Marlowe (Second Stage); Arden of Faversham (Redbull); World premiere of How To Transcend a Happy Marriage (Lincoln Center Theater); Hindle Wakes and The Price of Thomas Scott (Mint Theater Company). Regional: Dracula (Berkshire Theater Group); Hamlet and Macbeth (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Florida Rep); 4,000 Miles (Shakespeare & Company). Film & TV: In The Treetops (LA Film Festival); “Elementary”; “The Good Fight”; “Inside Amy Schumer”. UNCSA.
David Gow
(Solinus / Pinch Assistant)
Pronouns he / him
TV/Film: The Girls on the Bus (HBO), Chrissy Judy (Apple TV), The Good Fight (CBS), Madam Secretary (CBS), Jon Glaser Loves Gear (truTV), The Savant (Apple TV), Candice (Austin Film Festival). NY THEATER: Burning Leaves (Duke Theater), Chokehold (14th St Y), What I First Desired (Soho Playhouse), Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone (Workshop Theater), Bleach (Wilson’s Lounge), Decky Does a Bronco (Royal Family Productions). REGIONAL: Measure for Measure, Mothers & Sons, Waverly Gallery, Dear Jack Dear Louise, Hamlet (Shakespeare & Company), Sweat (Capital Rep), Pirira, Giant Void in My Soul (Luna Stages), Sense & Sensibility (4th Wall Theater), Why Do you Stand There In The Rain (Edinburgh Fringe), Scooter Thomas Makes It To The Top Of The World (Hollywood Fringe). David holds a BFA from University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Love to Kennedy.
Rory Hammond
(Angela)
Rory just earned her MFA and Linklater Designation in London, at the Rose Bruford College of Music and Drama. During her London studies, in addition to her concentration on the Linklater Method, she was immersed in the work of Augusto Boal and Theatre of the Oppressed, as well as Trish Arnold’s Pure Movement, and the Michael Chekhov technique. Throughout these studies there was an emphasis on devising, working to create one’s own performance pieces through the art of theatrical storytelling. In addition to her studies at Rose Bruford, Rory has also been focused these past few years on directing and teaching Shakespeare to kids from ages 7-18. Directing Credits: Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, and Macbeth, all for the Fall Festival of Shakespeare at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. New York acting credits include: Pericles, directed by Edward Berkeley, produced by Animus Theatre Company at SoHo Rep; Measure for Measure, also directed by Edward Berkeley, at Circle in the Square Theatre School; Bachelorette, directed by Lesley Headland, produced by Animus Theatre Company at Circle in the Square; John Patrick Shanley’s Where’s My Money, produced by Animus Theatre Company at the Cherry Lane Theatre; Shakespeare & Company credits include: Measure for Measure, Duke Vincentio, directed by Alice Reagan; Love’s Labour’s Lost, Princess of France, directed by Kelly Galvin; Christmas at Pemberley, directed by Ariel Bock; Ugly Lies the Bone and Taming of the Shrew, both directed by Daniela Varone; King John, Richard III,The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, all directed by Tina Packer. The Wharton Salon at the Mount: Autres Temp, Xingu, and Summer, all directed by Catherine Taylor Williams. TV credits include: Dr. Pepper commercials circa 1998. Rory received much of her early training at Shakespeare & Company, starting with Young Company and ending as a member of the Summer Performing Institute (SPI). Rory is a graduate of Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City, and is a founding member of Animus Theatre Company in New York City.
L. James
(Antipholus of Syracuse)
Pronouns he / him
S&Co Art. TV/Film Credits include: Law & Order, Zombie Wedding, FBI, The Mooch. Theater Credits: Fences, Backwards Forwards KCAB, The Agitators, Sender, Intimate Apparel, Hamlet, Sweat, The MotherF@cker with the Hat, ThreePenny Opera, and Angels in America.
Madeleine Rose Maggio
(Adriana)
Pronouns she / her
S&Co: Hippolyta/Snout, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Don John, Much Ado About Nothing; Robert Shallow/Bardolph: Merry Wives; Longaville/Jaquenetta, Love’s Labor’s Lost; Helena, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Ensemble: Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World; Elizabeth Bennet, Pride & Prejudice; Marianne Dashwood, Sense & Sensibility; Cassie, The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley; Elizabeth Darcy, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley; S&Co Regional Tour: Lady Capulet/ Benvolio, Romeo & Juliet; The Majestic: Lana, The Ladyslipper; The Humanist Project: “Bubbles”, Mad Mad Mad! (A Devised Clown Play); Lavinia, Titus Andronicus. Madeleine attended the two-year professional course at L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, studied at The Second City in Chicago and is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Ashley McCauley Moore
(Courtesan)
Ashley McCauley Moore is an actor originally from North Carolina, by way of Los Angeles CA. She is currently a third year graduate student at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, obtaining her MFA. Ashley has performed in a variety of stage plays and television shows. She has recently appeared in Romeo & Juliet as Juliet, Lynn Nottage Clyde’s as Letitia, and Chekov’s Three Sister’s as Masha. Ashley is no stranger to the Shake & Co. family. This is her second season with the theatre, returning from her debut of last year’s production of August Wilson’s Fences. She has worked for television networks such as Disney, ABC, and Netflix. Ashley is committed to the craft of acting and truthful storytelling. Her mission with every role is to have a human experience that gives the viewer a chance to live a different life.
Naire Poole
(The Abbess / Merchant / Officer)
Pronouns she / they
Naire Poole is fresh off of her performance in Barrington Stage Company’s 10×10 Festival! Her selected credits include: Theater: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, The Wickams: Christmas at Pemberly, Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare & Company); 10×10 Ten Minute Play Festival (Barrington Stage Company); Way Beyond Water (St. Pete Opera); hang, The Crucible, The Cake (Asolo Rep); Glengarry Glenross, Clybourne Park, Mud, A Chip on Her Shoulder, Oh the Humanity (Virginia Tech Theater); Hamlet #inpieces, Tuk in the Arctic, The Outsider, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (ODU REP). Film and television: Wet Things, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, George. MFA 2021 (FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training). When she isn’t tackling work that explores challenging societal structures, she is directing and teaching, ablaze to adjust theaters into inclusive, healing, and transcendent spaces. She’s grounded by family and lifted by friends. salu. blm.
Evan Stevens
(Domino of Ephesus)
Pronouns he / him
Evan is thrilled to be making his Shakespeare & Company debut performance! Hailing from Boise, he began his professional training as an Idaho Shakespeare Festival (ISF) apprentice and subsequently performed in three back-to-back (ISF) touring productions: As You Like It (Orlando), Julius Caesar (Casca), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck). A graduate of Boise State University (BA Acting/Dance Minor), Evan continued performing, choreographing, and teaching with professional dance companies to include LED Boise, Idaho Dance Theatre, and Project Flux. Following selection to the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, he completed his MFA and SDFD Stage Combat Certification. His most recent credits Include Christopher in The Sound Inside at the Urbanite Theatre Sarasota and D’Artagnan in Asolo Rep’s production of Ken Ludwig’s The Three Musketeers. Evan would like to thank Shakespeare & Company for this amazing opportunity, his Father for his continued unconditional support, and our audience for supporting Live theater!
Dennis Trainor, Jr.
(Egeon / Pinch)
Pronouns he / him
Dennis is an actor, writer, director, and teacher making his Shakespeare & Company debut. Recent acting credits include How I Learned To Drive, Let The Right One In, and The Merchant of Venice (Actors’ Shakespeare Project) and The Inheritance (Speakeasy Stage). Additionally, has appeared at New Rep, Gloucester Stage, Company One, Lyric Stage, Soho Rep, The Flea, The Kraine, and others. As a playwright, his plays include Manifest Destiny’s Child (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Plug, and I Coulda Been a Kennedy (Rude Mechanicals). Directing credits include Antigone or And Still She Must Rise Up (Boston Conservatory), The Trojan Women: A Love Story (Stonehill College), Plug, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rude Mechanicals). He Produced and Directed the documentaries American Autumn and Legalize Democracy. Dennis was the founding co-artistic director of the NYC-based Rude Mechanicals Theater Company. Currently, he serves an Associate Professor of Theater at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Kristofer Wilson
(Luce / Merchant)
Pronouns he / him
Kristofer Wilson is stoked to be making his professional debut at Shakespeare & Company! Kristofer is an actor and poet with a flair for classical text, dedicated to giving voice to the black experience and making space for black voices in classical material. He is currently pursuing his BFA in Acting from NYU Tisch through Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Previous credits include: Lenny in In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, Prospero in The Tempest, George in Intimate Apparel (NYU/Stella Adler); Moorey in Vegetarian (Original Work; Citizen Arts). Thanks to God, my family and all my teachers as well as Shakespeare & Company’s Summer Shakespeare Intensive faculty.
Sharmarke Yusuf
(Antipholus of Ephesus)
Pronouns he / him
Sharmarke Yusuf is a Brooklyn-based actor, poet, playwright, and photographer. He was born & raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a BFA in Contemporary Theater and a minor in Creative Writing. Regional: K-I-S-S-I-N-G (The Huntington, Elliot Norton Award Nomination for Outstanding Leading Performance), Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Lyric Stage Company), BLKS (SpeakEasy Stage Company, Elliot Norton Award Winner for Oustanding Performance by an Actor), People, Places & Things (SpeakEasy Stage Company). TV: Castle Rock (Hulu).
Lauren Davis
(Assistant Director / Tina Packer Women of Will Directing Fellow)
Davis is an actor, educator, and emerging director based in Baltimore, Md. She received her BS in Drama from Frostburg State University and her MFA in Acting from Catholic University. She is a long-time member of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company Theater, where she has played such roles as Juliet, Rosalind, the Princess of France, and Bianca, and is also a member of their Black Classical Actors Ensemble, for whom she recently directed Macbeth.
Kate Kohler Amory
(Director)
Pronouns she / her
Kate is an award-winning director and multi-hyphenate theater maker. Some favorite directing/devising credits include: Shakespeare & Company: Henry VI, Pt. II (Associate to Tina Packer), This Is It: Plays in Process; Midsummer Nights – Dream Love Escape, The Birds, Romeo and Juliet: A Space Oddity (The Ridiculous Project Boston); D.arc Water, Dog Act, Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, The Mermaid Hour: Remixed, Midsummer Night’s Dream (Boston Conservatory Berklee); Macbeth, Big Love, Ghosts of Troy, The Wolves, Comedy of Errors (Salem State University) and Hamlet (Brandeis University, co-directed). Founding Artistic Director of The Ridiculous Project, Professor of Movement and Acting for Boston Conservatory Berklee. MFA Naropa University, MA RADA/ Kings College, BFA Goldsmiths College London. Teacher of Acrobat of the Heart psychophysical actor training, Trish Arnold Pure Movement, DE-SMTT: Somatic Movement Educator and CYT.
Theresa Lang
(Dramaturg)
Pronouns she / her
Theresa Lang, Ph.D. is a theatre historian who specializes in American popular entertainment and 19th century performance. She is a dramaturg who is committed to the power of story, the creation of new work, and the amplification of under-represented voices. She is a theatre maker who is dedicated to the creation of ensemble and sustainable and equitable practice. She is a teacher who believes in the power of transformative art.
Raphael Massie
(Associate Director)
Pronouns he / him
Raphael Massie is an award-winning director, actor, and educator focused on how social and cultural factors can impact and enhance performance of western classical theatre. He is a Drama League of NY Classical Directing Fellow, OSF Killian Fellowship finalist, and has also worked abroad. Directing Credits include Shakespeare & Company (Associate, Cymbeline, The Merchant of Venice, AD Mother Courage), Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Emilia [reading], Associate & Dramaturg, The Cymbeline Project), Elm Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet), Connecticut Repertory Theatre (Pericles), Advice to the Players (Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing), Starling Shakespeare (As You Like It), Southern CT State U (Julius Caesar, Polaroid Stories, Stop Kiss, Lysistrata), UC Riverside (Dr. Faustus), Trinity College (Measure for Measure). Acting credits include Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Elm Shakespeare, and more. Raphael holds an MFA with Distinction in Staging Shakespeare from the University of Exeter (UK), as well as a BA in Theatre and a BS Education from Southern CT State U.
Photo Caption: Javier David, L. James, Madeleine Rose Maggio, Ashley McCauley Moore, Emma Geer, Naire Poole, Sharmarke Yusef, and Evan Stevens appear in Shakespeare & Company’s production of The Comedy of Errors, July 13 through August 18.
About Shakespeare & Company
Shakespeare & Company was founded in 1978 by Tina Packer. Located in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the Company offers performance, education, and actor-training opportunities year-round, and attracts more than 40,000 patrons annually with a core of more than 150 artists.
