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Benjamin Arsenault (King of Navarre) first appeared on stage in the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival’s production of Midsummer Night’s Dream as Mustardseed. He has since gone on to act and direct in several other shows for local theater groups. He most recently played Lt. Rooney and Mr. Gibbs in Olive Branch Theatrical’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace, and was assistant director for the Shakespeare Festival’s Enemy of the People. Benjamin has degrees in Videogame Production from the LA Film School, as well as Theater and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley. While attending Cal, he notably starred as Mr. Biederman in The Arsonists and directed several productions including Silence by Harold Pinter. When not in the theater he also can be found writing novels, plays, designs for videogames, or leading public Dungeons and Dragons sessions at the Valencia Library.y.
BIOGRAPHIES
CAST:
Sabrina Ariss (Moth) is a writer, actor, director, and general lover of the arts. Her previous plays include Romeo and Juliet as Juliet, and Macbeth as King Duncan. She is currently studying and performing at Playhouse West and the Upright Citizens Brigade.
Shannon Creedon Axtell (Costard) is honored to be joining the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival for the first time. Hailing from Massachusetts, she has a B.S. in Communications Media with a concentration in Theater. In her undergraduate tenure she performed in numerous shows, her favorites including Taming of the Shrew (Grumio), Eleemosynary (Echo), and The Runner Stumbles (Mrs. Shandig). Shannon is currently enrolled at the Art of Acting Studio in Hollywood in their Professional Conservatory program. Most recently, Shannon appeared on stage in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, as Agamemnon and Andromache. Additionally, she recently wrote and performed a short solo-show entitled A Choiceless Choice - Dr. Gisella Perl's Story of Survival in Auschwitz, which is available on YouTube. Shannon is currently working on expanding the show to bring it to the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Antonio Curiel (Armado) While studying Broadcast Journalism at College of the Canyons, Antonio enrolled in an Intro to Acting class for his Humanities and Fine Arts requirement. Since then, he has been involved in four SCSF productions, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespear and Love, Eurydice, and Love Labour's Lost. In his free time, Antonio enjoy’s baseball, playing music with his band, Pico de Gallo, as well spending time with family.
William Diament (Dumaine) is excited to make his acting debut with the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival. He is a recent graduate of the College of the Canyons with a degree in Theatre Arts and will be going to CSUN this upcoming fall. He has also worked behind the scenes for the festival. Last summer he was an intern and worked on all the festival shows last season. Enjoy the Show!
Simone Franchino (Jaquenetta and Dance Captain) has been a theatre actress and dancer for many years. She has been a part of plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Wolves, Antigone, and Robin Hood. She has also been in a few musicals such as Hair and Into the Woods. She is excited to play Jaquenetta in this production of Love's Labour's Lost also with being the dance captain. She was a part of the College of the Canyons theatre department and is now heading to UC San Diego to continue her theatre education.
Georgan George (Boyet) is happy to return to SC Shakespeare where she played Katherine Stockman in An Enemy of the People, Elmire in Tartuffe, and Andromache in Trojan Women. Recent roles include M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias (Troll Players) and Mrs Pinkerton in Pinkalicious, the musical (WVP Children’s and Family Theatre). In Oct-Nov, she will be seen as Miss Andrew, the scary nanny, in Mary Poppins. Georgan has a Bachelor of Theatre degree in Acting Performance from Willamette University and she studies singing at The Hummingbird Conservatory.
Justine Lang (Maria), a theatre student at College of the Canyons, is thrilled to be back for her second year at the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival. Last year, she portrayed Panthino in Two Gentlemen of Verona directed by David Stears. At College of the Canyons, some of her favorite past roles include Ismene in Antigone and the Constable in Robin Hood.
Skylar Reede (Longaville) is a genderqueer actor from Santa Clarita who started working with SCSF seven years ago. Skylar has their Bachelor's degree in Theatre and Mathematics from UC Berkeley, and also studied acting at the American Conservatory Theatre. They have performed such roles as Charlotte in The Real Thing and Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In addition to acting, they are a theatre producer and co-founded a local nonprofit, Open Wings Theatre Company. Skylar is committed to creating opportunities for diversity in theatre, and is excited that next year they will be directing a trans play, Sagittarius Ponderosa.
Loreal Renee (Princess of France) is proud to be working with Santa Clarita Shakespeare for her fourth show with the company. She majored in Acting at Marymount Manhattan College and is currently an improv student at The Groundlings. Previous credits include Rocky Horror Picture Show (Columbia), An Enemy of the People (Petra Stockmann), Much Ado About Nothing (Margaret), and Othello (Desdemona).
Jai Sahai (Berowne) was last seen on stage as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing at the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival. Major roles at the festival and in Santa Clarita include The Aviator in The Little Prince, Lord of the Underworld in Eurydice, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Feste in Twelfth Night. A native of Berkeley, Jai has acted for such companies as The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Theatricum Botanicum and Marin Shakes. Jai holds three degrees in theater from Pomona, UCLA and the Royal Conservatoire of Birmingham respectively. He can be seen on the Apple Plus show Platonic.
Rosalind Smith (Rosaline) graduated from San Francisco State University in 2022, earning her BA in Theatre Arts. She spent much of her life on stage as a ballet dancer and then actress and singer. She appeared in theatre productions, commercials, and films around Sacramento and San Francisco. Her most recent appearance was with Put Ur Play on Productions in Oakland where she played the lead in Eris Rising. Rosalind moved to Los Angeles at the beginning of the year to pursue a career in Film & TV. She is excited to continue performing in her first production with SCSF!
Chelsea Christina Ward (Katherine) is an actress based in Los Angeles, California. She recently graduated from College of the Canyons with an associates degree in Theatre Arts. She’s pursuing her bachelor's degree in Drama at the University of California Irvine. This is Chelsea’s second production with the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival. She played the Host in the 2022 production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. Some of the previous productions she’s worked on include Antigone, Into the Woods, and Robin Hood.
PRODUCTION:
Luck Hari (Director) This is the fifth play Ms. Hari has directed for the festival. Last summer, she directed An Enemy of the People.
Lynn Mcquown (Costume Designer) Lynn is having a great time costume designing Luck Hari’s fun adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost with such a talented cast and crew. Lynn has designed many shows for SCSF over the years, some personal favorites are The Tempest, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night - A Rock Musical. Her most recent project was designing the award winning new play Rembrandt Perfected by Brandon Mendelson at the Main in January. Lynn works at Palace Costume & Prop Co. in Hollywood and is a member of the Costume Designer’s Guild, Local 892. Her website is lynnmcquowncostumes.com.
Christopher R Boltz (Lighting Designer) has designed lighting for Julius Caesar, Trojan Women, and The Little Prince for Santa Clarita Shakespeare festival. He is a full-time technical theatre faculty member at College of the Canyons, where he has recently designed Robin Hood and Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens. His work has been seen as far north as Santa Clara with the Jun Lu Performing Arts, and as far south as San Diego for the centennial production of L. Frank Baum’s reconstructed operetta The Tik-Tok Man of Oz. In his spare time, Mr. Boltz enjoys writing plays, composing songs, and long distance running.
Courtney Selan (Choreography and Movement) was born and raised in Los Angeles. Courtney attended, and graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where she earned her BFA in Music Theater. She worked in New York City for a short time in casting and directing before attending UCLA where she earned her MFA in theater directing. After school Courtney worked mostly with the Los Angeles Opera, and in projects in England, Germany, and Finland. Courtney returned to Los Angeles to attend law school at Loyola Law School where she is now an adjunct writing professor. Courtney is also a public defender for the State of California representing minors and parents on appeal.
Jeremy D. Thompson (Sound Designer) is proud to be taking part in his second Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival. As an actor, he most recently portrayed Orgon in Tartuffe and Polonius in Hamlet at California State University Northridge and Alan-A-Dale in Don Nigro’s Robin Hood at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center. Previously, Jeremy appeared in Into the Woods (Narrator/Mysterious Man), Pippin (Pippin), Jesus Christ Superstar (Pontius Pilate), 1776 (Benjamin Franklin), The Fantasticks (Hucklebee), My Emperor’s New Clothes (Scout) and Marvin’s Room (Charlie); as well as ensemble roles in Once Upon a Mattress, Man of La Mancha, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and West Side Story. As an improviser, he has studied and performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City, The Pack Theater, WGIS, and Squirrel Comedy New York. He is a member of the improvised one act plays team Dilly, co-created the web series CTRL+ALT+UNDERGROUND, and is a writer and performer on This Week This Week, a weekly live sketch show from Open Fist Theatre Company at the Atwater Village Theater. In October, Jeremy will make his CSUN directorial debut with Eugene Ionesco’s Killing Game.
Chloe Koons (Stage Manager and Props Designer) is spending her first year with SCSF as a production intern. She has been a classical vocalist and performer for most of her life. Through her time as a music student at San Jose State University, she began working as a production assistant and a concert manager, kickstarting her passion for theatre production and stage management. She worked her first credit as a stage manager for a double bill production of La Curandera and Trial By Jury. She has also worked with Opera San Jose as a supertitles operator for Dido and Aeneas, Carmen, and West Side Story. She is currently a technical theatre student at College of the Canyons where she recently worked as an assistant stage manager for Robin Hood and Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens. Chloe spends her free time reading and crafting as much as possible.