CAST CREDITS
Tess Nakaishi — Hermia
Tess is an actor and improv comic who studied theatre at Western Washington University. Some of her favorite roles include Elsie in The Ballad of Ginger Goodwind, Pisania in Cymbeline, Janet in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Aubrey in Leading Ladies. She is also a member of improv team LoveJoy, which you can follow on Facebook and Instagram. When not performing, Tess can be found cuddling her cat, playing D&D, and writing. This is Tess’ third time acting in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (and her second time as Hermia), and she is thrilled to be entering the woods again with this talented cast and crew.
Ariel Puls — Lysandra
Ariel is an actress and artist based in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. She earned her BA at the University of Portland and her MFA in Acting at Columbia University in New York City. Locally, she has performed with Readers Theatre Repertory, OPS Fest, Speculative Drama, and Imago Theatre, among others. She is an avid Shakespeare fan and performer and believes that the classics are relevant and should be accessible to everyone. When not performing, she is writing her first full length play, working with Marquam Auction Agency, and slowly laying the groundwork for her own local theatre company.
Learn more about Ariel at www.arielpuls.wixsite.com/actress
Cassandra Pangelinan — Helena
Cassandra (she/hers) is extremely excited to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream with Theatre Berk! You may have recently seen her perform as Sara with Triangle Productions in their original show, Sex on the River. Previous roles include Columbia in Enlightened Theatrics' production of Rocky Horror and as Urleen in Footloose at Broadway Rose. You may have also seen Cassandra as the Mistress in Evita and as the Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol, both with Stumptown Stages; as Mimi in RENT with Theatre in the Grove; or as various roles in The Mini-Musical Festival with Live OnStage. Off stage, you can see Cassandra teaching at Wild Lilac CDC in SE Portland or bargaining on behalf of her Union! Shout out to ILWU - Local 5! She is also very excited to share the stage and be opposite her fiancé Rhansen, as Demetrius.
Rhansen Mars — Demetrius
Rhansen was born and raised in Honolulu, where he appeared in multiple seasons of the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival; most notably in Dromio & Juliet, a reimagining of a variety of Shakespeare’s works using elements of commedia dell’arte. There, he has also been seen in Honu by the Sea, Peter and the Starcatcher, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; along with a one night appearance at the Hawaii Burlesque Festival.
Rhansen has been living and working in Portland for seven years with no end in sight. Here was his most recent Shakespearean appearance in The Romeo & Juliet Project with Enso Theatre Ensemble. He has also in seen in contemporary works, such as Twisted, Trail to Oregon, and The Rocky Horror Show at the Funhouse Lounge; Stumptown Stages' Jesus Christ Superstar, and Urinetown. This will be the third production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in which he has appeared; once with Speculative Drama in Portland, the other at Henry J Kaiser High School in Honolulu where he was educated.
Rick Warren — Egeus/Philostrate
Rick has been performing on stage since he was a teen. Locally, he has worked with Lakewood, Stumptown Stages, the Funhouse Lounge, to name a few. He owns a coffee cart in St Johns. In his free time (ha!), Rick enjoys crafting delicious cocktails and playing with his two dorky dogs. Excelsior!
maddy Gourlay — Puck
Maddy (she/they) is delighted to be reprising the role of Puck, 13 1/2 years after taking on the role for the first time in their middle school play. They are honored to have such a rare opportunity to improve their performance in, objectively, one of the most fun roles in the Canon. Maddy would like to give a special thanks to Shannon Dery for not only directing that middle school production, but for stoking their passion for theatre and continuing to be a friend and mentor to this day. Maddy would also like to say thanks to William Berk for his strong vision, constant support, and for providing all of the cast and crew with the opportunity to perform this hilarious, beautiful, timeless show.
This is Maddy's second show with Theatre Berk, following a stage crew position in Professor Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. She has also acted in several productions with Twilight Theater Company, most recently as Amanda Blue in A Feminine Ending. She has also worked with Blinking Eye Theatre Company, Theatre in the Hood, and in March 2022 acted in her first production with Nutz-N-Boltz Theater Company, Fuddy Meers. Before all of that, she engaged in ample theatrical silliness throughout middle and high school, taking a break in college to pursue competitive a cappella.
Outside the theater, you will find Maddy setting up their first classroom as a brand-new 5th grade teacher! Maddy also has a passion for music, and while she's not currently a member of any singing groups, she did recently write and produce a song inspired by Not Another DnD Podcast. Check it out here, but be prepared for some nerdy DnD sea shanty nonsense. And if (Oberon forbid) you want to find the competitive a cappella that was mentioned earlier, go to YouTube and search "UO Mind the Gap" during the years 2014-2018. You could start here, for example. And then check out the current group, because they will absolutely rock your socks off.
Enjoy the show! And remember -- if you don't like it, you were dreaming!
Caralynn Shields — Hippolyta/Oberon
Caralynn is thrilled to be back at The Chapel with the Bard. In the Before Times, she last walked these boards as Cynthia in A Brass Christmas Case and played a mean uke in the world premiere of Swipe Right. More recently, she debuted with Stumptown Stages in the Portland premiere of Tinderella, and often haunts the murder mystery scene with The Dinner Detective.
Zed E. Jones — Theseus/Titania
Zed E Jones is a Portland-based performance artist, theater tech, activist, and educator. Titania is a role they’ve circled apprehensively for years; what an exciting challenge to undertake Shakespeare’s most classic faerie queen for you tonight! Zed’s previous appearances include Cerberus Circus Society, Sir Cupcake’s Queer Circus, Speculative Drama, Prismagic, and Booklover’s Burlesque. A heartfelt thanks to their siblings, friends, community, and especially the queer monarchs who came before, who’ve confronted the conventional and overturned the earth into a new light.
Crystal Lemons — Quince
Crystal is thrilled to be back on stage since the Before Times in Theatre Berk's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as Quince.
Crystal has spent the past couple of years working in virtual productions, taking classes, and filming the pilot episode of a future television series; Totally Normal. Some exciting film projects are coming up, details will be forthcoming. You can check out some of Crystal's latest on-camera work in Episodes 2 & 3 of Steve and Stephanie" (Keep an eye out for upcoming Episode 4!) at: https://youtube.com/channel/UCs0Yy9fZsZU6zyrhqpkN-jQ
Crystal would like to thank the entire cast and crew for guiding this ship through all weather to arrive here, on stage at the Chapel Theatre, with a charming tale of love, jealousy, shenanigans, and a play within a play.
Rachel Ladd — Bottom/Pyramus
Rachel Ladd is extremely excited to be with Theatre Berk for her first ever Shakespeare show! Originally hailing from NYC, she is incredibly grateful to be able to perform during Covid times. Favorite roles include Velma Kelly (Chicago, Boston MA), Jeanie (HAIR, NYC), Dance Captain (Punk Grandpa, NYC), Hannah (One Night, regional tour), and Bobbi Poole (Professor Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, Portland OR). A huge thank you to the cast, crew, family, and Kyle, for all their love and support!
Katie Mortemore — Flute/Thisby
Katie Mortemore is so excited to be jumping back into the Midsummer world. She started her acting career at the age of nine in a summer production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as Hermia. No, she did not understand the... adult themes at such a young age. Since then, she has enjoyed numerous roles around the Portland area, including Bianca in Portland Actors Ensemble's production of The Taming of the Shrew, Christina Grant in Lakewood Theatre's production of Murder on the Nile, and Miranda in Speculative Drama's production of The Tempest. She has also been seen in several independent short films. Katie has been trained in modern dance and always loves dipping her toes in every other kind of movement work. She enjoys every opportunity to share her love of dialects and most recently wowed audiences as Bippy, your little house elf friend in Puffs, Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at A Certain School of Magic and Magic! (Pacific Stageworks). Katie received her BA in Theatre from Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR and hopes to continue hitting up the Portland theatre and film scene for a long time. She wishes to thank her husband for all his love and support.
Yael Niccum — Snug/Lion
Yael is very excited to be diving into "Midsummer" for the 3rd time - the first being at age 12, when she was only beginning to discover her love of live performance. She did several plays throughout grade school and college, followed by a decade-long break where she worked many customer service jobs with terrible hours not conducive to theater. One day, several years after relocating to Portland from her native SF Bay Area, she got bitten by the bug and started taking improv and voice acting classes. Then, she got her resume together and started auditioning for shows. Since then, she has worked with Torchsong Entertainment, Rose City Shakespeare Company, Mask and Mirror, On Your Toes with Katherine Kyte, and of course, Theatre Berk. In her spare time, Yael enjoys reading, spending time with her husband and two cats, as well as dissociating and watching TikTok for hours on end. If you can't get enough of her on-stage antics, be sure to check her out this December Villains and Vixens Cabaret — Holiday Edition! presented by Torchsong Entertainment. Enjoy the show!
IG: yael_smiles (Feel free to follow if you like selfies, cat photos, and questionable outfit choices!)
Kate Belden — Snout/wall
Kate Belden's first big break in Portland, OR was touring for Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre. She's since continued her lucky streak by acting with companies like PAE, NW Classical, and Bag&Baggage and getting her own works produced by PDXPlaywrights and Northwest Theatre Workshop. She wishes to thank the audience, her fellow cast and crew for their support, friends, roommates, and partner for their patience, and her mom for taking her to Shakespeare.
Melissa Buchta — Starveling/Moonshine
Melissa moved to Portland in 2015 from Fairbanks, Alaska. They have acted in multiple productions with Fairbanks Shakespeare Theater, most notably Titus Andronicus, where they played the title character. Her favorite Shakespeare role was Crab, the dog, in Two Gentlemen of Verona. They could last be seen in A Comedy Of Terrors at the Funhouse Lounge, an improvised Shakespeare show. They are also part of FLAIR (Funhouse Lounge Artists In Residence). They have studied at the Portland Actors Conservatory as well as graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Performance and a minor in Broadcast Journalism. They have also been seen in USS Improvise The Next Generation The Musical, which they have toured to improv festivals in Seattle and Honolulu. Improv is their passion, but they are absolutely delighted to be in this amazing cast and doing scripted work again! After Midsummer, they can be seen in Murder Mystery Machine over at the Funhouse Lounge and Many Bothans Died, a one-act Star Wars Comedy at Rose City Comic Con. They are a giant nerd, and hope you enjoy the show very much! They would like to thank their fabulous director William for giving them the opportunity to be a very rude mechanical!!
Megan kevane — First Fairy
Megan is a native Oregonian and active with the local theater community. She has been a writer, director, actor, and producer with Monkey With A Hat On for years and is excited to be in her first Shakespeare with Theater Berk! When not on stage or on film, Megan enjoys spending time with her two wonderful sons Tyler and Jacen, and being yelled at by her incredibly spoiled and aptly named cat, Princess. She is also a hair sparkler and is responsible for the sparkle strands in he fairies’ hair. If you would like a bit of magic in your hair as well, she can be reached through her Instagram page at Instagram.com/meggiekevane to make private appointments for sparkling or to see which public shows she will be sparkling at next!
Rachel Allen — Peaseblossom
“I have been acting for as long as I can remember. Since my childhood, I’ve done straight plays and musicals, I've earned a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in performance, worked in every possible tech position, and studied abroad for a month examining the works of Shakespeare in London, before settling down in Portland to do parody musicals with Torchsong Entertainment.
“I’m so excited to be dancing with Katherine and working with Will again. This is such a wonderful opportunity and such an amazing production. I have a soft spot for old Billy Shakes, may he rest in revelry!
“I love theatre, and I can’t imagine my life without it. I have theatre to thank for my passion, my life, and my love, having met my fiancé through a Torchsong Entertainment production. Come see us live in December at Villains & Vixens: Holiday Edition!” —Rachel
Gabby Bosso — Mustardseed
Gabby is very excited to be part of such a whimsical show. When she’s not on stage, she’s out in the community sharing her love of theater and music with the Portland youth, teaching not just technical skills but focusing on building both confidence and creativity in kids. She has done theater since high school and received her Bachelor’s in Theater Arts from PSU in 2021, graduating Magna Cum Laude. In her free time, she likes long walks on the beach and picnics in the park.
Tanner Huff — Cobweb
Heyyy y'all, I am Tanner Huff, and I will playing Cobweb; The Forest Fairy with a passion for Dance! Outside of acting and dancing, I really enjoy singing, yoga, swimming, and anything that keeps me moving. I have been in various theatre productions, including my most recent production, "Tinderella:The Modern Musical!," playing Ash, Hank, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and variousTinder dudes. I’ve also played in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Tim Kelly’s Aladdin, Neil Simon’s Rumors, and ensemble in Roger Hammerstein’s Cinderella and Michael Stewart's Hello, Dolly! I love the way this show blends Shakespeare comedy and dance so beautifully. I hope you all love the show and forget your woes for a li’l while!
Lizzy Swanson — Moth
Lizzy is a Pacific Northwest native who got bit by the acting bug after taking her first drama class in high school (which hurt a lot less than getting bit by her pet hedgehog, Poptart). Since then she has acted in several stage productions, and even as background for film/tv projects (catch her as a Blockbuster employee in Everything Sucks!).
Lizzy is thrilled to be playing Moth the fairy in her first Shakespeare production. Past favorite roles include Mimi the Mime in Check, Please!, Cheshire Cat in Lifespan of the Egg, and Dawn in The Universal Language. Outside of theater, Lizzy enjoys watching movies, baking delicious cookies, acrylic paint pouring, and playing with her rescue cat, Tom. She is super excited for everyone to see this play!
"Be prepared to laugh...a lot!"