Cast

Karl Baker Olson

Karl Baker Olson CSC: Shakespeare on Love, Anna Christie (reading), Mr. Maler’s assistant on As You Like It. Boston credits include The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Misanthrope (New Repertory Theatre); The History Boys (SpeakEasy Stage); A Moon for the Misbegotten (Merrimack Repertory Theatre); Gary (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); The Duchess of Malfi (Actors’ Shakespeare Project). Training: Boston University School of Theatre; London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art; The Children’s Theatre Co. 2008 IRNE Award.

 

John Bambery

John Bambery is very excited to be working with Commonwealth Shakespeare this summer. Area credits include Light in the Piazza (Speakeasy Stage Company); A View from the Bridge (Harvard University); West Side Story (Boston Conservatory); and Shakespeare On Love (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company). John just graduated with a BFA from the Boston Conservatory, and has also trained at the Moscow Art Theater School, National Theater Institute, American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NY Campus), and Manhattan School of Music. He would like to thank anybody and everybody who made this production possible, it means A LOT!!!

 

Cheo Hodari Bourne

Cheo Hodari Bourne gladly returns to the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company! Cheo graduated from Connecticut College with a BA in Theater and attended The British American Drama Academy in London, England (BADA). Regional: Jerry Springer The Opera (Speakeasy Stage Co.), Of Mice and Men (New Repertory Theater on Tour), Cabaret (New Repertory Theater) and Shakespeare on Love (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company). University: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lysander, London), Company (Robert), A Man of No Importance (Robbie Faye) and Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker Jr., NETC Moss Hart Award: Best Production) Cheo thanks his Mom, Dad, three sisters, family and close friends for truly believing in him and helping his dreams unfold.

 

Tanya Everett

Tanya Everett has always loved the theater, ever since she was a little girl. Her first acting class was in Quincy, with Diane Purdy. She has had the good fortune to attend the British American Drama Academy in London and the Stanislavski Summer School, through which she has begun her training. Some of her favorite roles include Rosa Parks in The Rosa Parks Story, George in Devotees in the Garden of Love, and Queen Margaret in Richard III. She was thrilled to work on the Drama Desk Nominated Off-Broadway play, Surrender. She recently shot a special for the HBO drama In Treatment, and starred in Another Treasure, a Columbia University Graduate Film which will be hitting the film festivals this fall. She thanks her family and friends for their love and support and CSC for casting her thi

Zofia Gozynska

Zofia is thrilled to be working with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, having spent several summer picnics watching such wonderful performances. She is also very happy to be performing again in Boston after a two year stint in the UK where she was honing her Shakespeare skills while completing a graduate diploma at the the Birmingham School of Acting. Regional theatre credits: Olly's Prison: American Repertory Theatre, Desire Under the Elms: American Repertory Theatre, To Kill a Mockingbird: Foothills Theatre Company, Arcadia: Longwood Players, Our Country's Good: Theatre Co-operative, The Tempest: Redfeather Theatre Company, The Play About the Baby: Mill 6 Collaborative. Zofia recently worked on the Boston independent feature film Slip & Fall directed by Marc Colucci and starring William Forsythe and Andrew Divoff. Zofia holds a BFA in Theatre from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has recently moved back to New York City. Thank you to my wonderful family for never settling for mediocrity and for supporting me in my crazy adventures.

Samson Kohanski

Samson Kohanski (Ensemble) is honored to be working with CSC agian. Area credits include Of Mice and Men, A Christmas Carol (New Repertory Theater); Mary’s Wedding (Whistler in the Dark); The Baltimore Waltz (Holland Productions); As You Like It (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); and The History Boys (SpeakEasy Stage Company). He received his BA in Acting from Brandeis University.

 

Kara Manson

Kara Manson is delighted to work with Commonwealth Shakespeare for the first time. She was last seen as Natasha in Bad Jazz with Zeitgeist Stage, and in the Nora Theater Company's staged reading of Vessel of Glass. Kara received her BA in Theater Arts from Brandeis University, where her credits include: As You Like It (Lord Amiens), The Threepenny Opera, The Physician of His Honor (Prince Enrique), The Love of the Nightingale (Procne), Into the Woods (Rapunzel), Urinetown (Hope), and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Genevieve). Other credits include: Mrs. Warren's Profession and Cinderella, both with Berkshire Theatre Festival. Kara is originally from Brattleboro, Vermont, and now lives in Brighton with her boyfriend and their cat.

Marie Polizzano

Marie is thrilled to be working again with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company! Last summer, she was an ensemble member and an understudy in their outdoor production of As You Like It, and she was also a part of their production of Shakespeare On Love, which performed as a part of First Night Boston. She has worked with The New Repertory Theatre, touring schools with their productions of The Crucible (Mary Warren), Othello, Of Mice and Men (Curley’s Wife). Other regional credits: She Loves Me (Swing and Asst. to Choreographer), How Shakespeare Won the West (Understudy), and Pirates! (Asst. to Choreographer), all with The Huntington Theatre Company. Marie earned her BFA in Acting from the Boston University School of Theatre, and has also studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

 

Production Staff

Charley Ammerman (Production Manager) started his career in theater as a member of Landmark School in Beverly’s technical theater department. He currently is a sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University’s school of drama, located in Pittsburgh. Once he is allowed to declare a focus he plans to focus on technical directing and production management.

Ryan Maxwell (Director) is excited to be working on his first production with CSC! A graduate of Brown University, Ryan served as Assistant Director and Operations Manager at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren, RI for 2003-2009. Favorite productions: The Learned Ladies, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, The Little Foxes, The Marriage of Bette & Boo, Auntie Mame, A Flea in her Ear, Red Scare on Sunset, Fuddy Meers, The Beaux’ Stratagem, The Miracle Worker. Directing credits at Brown: Richard III, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, The Vagina Monologues.

Shakespeare On Love, first presented as part of Boston's First Night, is a selection of pieces blending speeches, sonnets, scenes and songs inspired by Shakespeare into a joyful celebration of language and love. Performed by some of Boston's finest up-and-coming actors and directed by Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler and restaged this summer by Ryan Maxwell, the performance is sure to delight audiences of all ages.

As part of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's educational outreach program, Shakespeare On Love will be touring several local parks to encourage youth and families to discover the beauty of Shakespeare's work and the magic of live theater.