Circus &
The Bard

Pronouns: he / him

S&Co: Director: The Tempest (2017), As You Like It (2018), Twelfth Night (2019) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2023), Shake It Up (2024). Shakespeare & Company performances: Flight of the Monarch, Henry VI, Part 2, A Walk in the Woods, King Lear, God of Carnage, Or, King John, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry IV, Part 1, among others. As Artistic Director of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Allyn directed and acted in numerous productions. Other Boston area performances include Can You Forgive Her (Huntington Theatre), Breaking the Code (Underground Railway Theatre), Shipwrecked (The Lyric Stage), The Seafarer and The Homecoming (Merrimack Repertory Theater), Five by Tenn (Speakeasy Stage). Elliot Norton Award for The Homecoming, King Lear, Five by Tenn; IRNE Award for Breaking the Code. Off-Broadway: Bug, Killer Joe, Louis Slotin Sonata, Closetland. Regionally: Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theatre, Long Wharf, Denver Center, Walnut St. Television: The Broad Squad, Law and Order, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Against the Law. Films include The Company Men, Julie & Julia, Manchester by the Sea, Don’t Look Up, and the upcoming Tony.

Raised on the stage in both theater and dance, including as a student at S&Co., Robin has never forgotten the visceral power of live collaborations. Certainly for the artists involved and hopefully for the audience. Since those early years studying and performing onstage, Robin has moved, by way of educational psychology, into developing creative content, whether directing an 8-part audio series about trauma and resilience with social psychologist Dan Ariely, producing an S&Co performance weekend in Sarasota, FL, designing a Berkshire-based evening with regional artistic leaders about the role of performance in our culture, or now co-creating this initiative between S&Co. and the company she and Pedro Reis have recently formed, the Spirit of the Circus.

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Pedro Reis began his circus training at the age of 12 at a local YMCA. He developed his skills on the flying trapeze and later helped develop the first circus school in South Africa. In a land divided by color, the school ignored politics, giving students from all walks of life the opportunity to channel their energies in a positive, healthy manner. Pedro then moved on to create The Survivors, one of the most dangerous acts in circus history performing without safety devices making their American debut with Ringling Bros. in 1984. In 1987 Pedro became a solo artist, performing with many renowned circus companies including the Big Apple Circus in New York and The International Circus Festival of Monaco. In 1997, he co-founded Circus Sarasota, a one-ring circus in the European tradition, and a not-for-profit organization now named the Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC). The CAC presents circus arts at the highest level - through performance, education and integrated community arts and service programs. He has received the Sarasota County Arts Council prestigious Arts Leadership Award, and is inducted into the John and Mable Ringling Circus Museum Hall of fame and the Circus Ring of Fame at St. Armand’s Circle. In 2017, the CAC partnered with the Smithsonian Institute to produce their Folklife Festival, which that year focused on international circus arts. Pedro led the team, setting up the Big Top on the National Mall, and producing/directing the international Circus talent. He and Robin Eldridge have recently formed Spirit of the Circus, a company that illuminates circus arts from different angles, including original collaborations such as this production with Shakespeare & Company.

Chris Allison was 10 years old when he took a school field trip to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus that would change his life forever. Leaving the circus wide eyed and in a sugar induced daze, Chris decided then that he would grow up and become a clown with the Greatest Show on Earth®. After graduating from the RBBB Clown College with a major in pie throwing and a minor in pratfalls, Chris spent the next eleven years touring with the circus, the final three years as the Boss Clown. Since leaving the show Chris has toured across the United States as well as internationally including performances in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Europe, Mexico and beyond! If you are saying "Hey that guy looks familiar..." maybe that's because you have seen him at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort or on Disney Cruise Line, MTV's Road Rules, MTV'S ODDVILLE, Natalie Merchants music video for her hit song "Kind and Generous", Oprah, The Today Show, Emeril Live, Comedy Central’s Strangers with Candy, The Late Show with David Letterman and was a quarter-finalist on America’s Got Talent.

Spencer Androli has been juggling for 15 years and is a 3x world champion juggler. He has broken multiple world records and was ranked the #1 Juggler of 2023 and #4 in 2024 on the Top 40 Jugglers of the Year Chart. He has performed for circuses and variety shows such as Teatro Zinzanni, Flynn Creek Circus, Circus Evo, Hideaway Circus, Shoestring Circus, and the Moisture Festival in Seattle. He has been featured on ESPN 2 as part of an international sport juggling competition from the World Juggling Federation in Paris, France in 2024 winning 3rd place.

Pronouns he / him
As an understudy at Shakespeare & Company: A Midsummer... Dream, Henry VI Part 2, The Winter’s Tale. Other credits include: A Christmas Carol (BTG); Spring Awakening, The Tempest: A Musical Adaptation (Ghostlit Rep); A Mouthful of Birds (BADA). Training: British American Drama Academy, Shakespeare & Company. Special thanks and much love to Momma!

Pronouns she / her
Lydia is a theatre artist based in Western Massachusetts. She was introduced to theatre through Shakespeare & Company's education programs, and continued on to study in programs at Carnegie Mellon University, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center. She earned her bachelor's degree from Bennington College, and then returned to Shakespeare & Company to take the Month-long Intensive. This is her third year with the company, having performed in the staged readings of Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (2023) and Emma (2024), and stepped in as understudy to perform in A Midsummer Night's Dream (2023) and A Body of Water (2024).

Zoë Isadora is a third generation aerial circus artist. Since her first appearance in the circus ring at 9 months old, Zoë has performed in productions with Cirque Passion, The Flying Wallenda Family Circus, Westchester Circus Arts, AirOtic Soirée, Les Farfadais, and Cirque Dreams. Zoë is also head manager and coach at Moody Street Circus, and travels around the world to share her aerial workshops and technique! Through her unique performance upbringing, Zoë now imbues the spirit of the circus world in her own aerial feats through graceful flows and seamless dancing with any apparatus. Her work is strong, elegant and enchanting.

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For the last decade, Marcus has been in and out of NYC where he was staying busy as a props carpenter for Broadway, production manager for everything from Redbull to Rhianna, & performing whenever he had the chance. He moved back to the Berkshires in 2021 and worked as Director of Production & Operations for Barrington Stage Company until 2024 when he left to be a full time Dad. Marcus is elated to be on stage again at Shakespeare & Company. He'd like to thank his wife Erika for her love and his son Porter for being such an awesome little dude.

Shena is an award-winning circus artist specializing in cyr wheel. A graduate of Montreal’s National Circus School, she has toured internationally with Cirque du Soleil’s LUZIA and Cirque Éloize’s Saloon as well as with variety shows across Europe, performing as both an acrobat and musician (violin, mandolin, vocals). Her distinctive style blends clean technique with creative improvisation, shaped by her background in modern dance. Shena has earned top honors at international circus festivals, including the Grand Award of the Jury at the Newcomershow in Leipzig, the grand prize at Le Monastère’s Cabaret du Jugement Dernier in Montreal, and the GOP Varieté Prize at Basel’s prestigious Youngstage Festival. Outside of her work in performing arts, Shena is also a handknitting pattern designer and textile artist, creating functional pieces from reclaimed materials with a focus on traditional craft and slow fashion.

Karoly Zeman “Karchy” and Ana Zeman “Anita” both come from circus families. Karchy studied at the Hungarian state circus school, graduating in 1992. When he wound up working at a traveling circus in Ireland, he met Anita, who was at that time working as a flying trapeze artist with her family. After three months, Karchy and Anita were married, and have been together for 30 years, performing both a roller skating act and this quick-change act.

ARTSIOM ZHAUNENKA is an experienced handstand performer who graduated from the Moscow State Circus School (GUCEI); an artist of LENINGRAD CENTER; a prize-winner and winner of many awards, prizes; Bronze medalist of the Salieri Circus Award festival, laureate of the International festivals "PARAD ALL" in Latvia, "CIRCO ZABURAI" in Lithuania, "CYRCLAND" in Poland. At the 12th International circus festival "Golden Elephant" in Girona, he won two special prizes from the jury members of Cirque d'Hiver Bouglione, Paris and Cirque National Suisse Knie, Schweizer.

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Kulia is excited for her first production with Shakespeare & Company as an Assistant Stage Manager. She is a rising junior at Tufts University, majoring in Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies with a minor in Music. Her previous stage management credits at Tufts include The Furies with the Theatre Department and The Enchanted Pig with the Music Department, among other productions. Originally from Sherwood Oregon, Kulia began her stage management journey with the Sherwood Foundation for the Arts and is delighted to continue pursuing her passion as a summer Stage Management Intern at Shakespeare & Company.

Pronouns he / him

Luke Willson is a NYC-based lighting designer with a passion for capturing the puzzles at the heart of stories. He is thrilled to be back at Shakespeare & Company for the 2025 Summer Season as the staff Assistant Production Manager and Head Electrician, as well as designing both Shake It Up and the premiere of Circus & the Bard. Luke recently graduated from Fordham University after working on more than 40 productions, including his thesis: the world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Horoscope, directed by May Adrales. Luke has worked on productions at The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, The Tank, The Flea, La MaMa, Atlantic Acting School, Theatre for a New Audience, NYC Fringe, Target Margin Theatre, and many more.