Wonder of Our Stage

Cory Drozdowski (Richard Burbage) is an actor, originally from Arizona, and is currently working on his MLitt/MFA in Shakespeare and Performance at Mary Baldwin University. He also received BAs in Acting and Philosophy from Arizona State University. This is his first production with Silk Moth Stage and he is incredibly honored and excited to be involved with the premier of such a wonderful play. Past roles include Warwick in Henry VI Part 1 at Mary Baldwin University, Max in Dial M for Murder at the Wayne theatre, as well as both the Deputy in La Comedia of Errors and Jaddick in Healing Wars with the ASU School of Music Dance and Theatre.

Robert Gotschall is a Virginia-based performer from Alpharetta, Georgia. Having trained extensively with Shakespeare and early modern theatrical practices, he believes in the importance and power of words, and the necessity to place the text at the center of every performance. Robert’s core values as an artist reflect the mindset that the nature of theater is to be a force of good in the universe. He last graced the Silk Moth Stage as Tom in the world premiere of Give Us Good.

Kara Hankard is an actor, collaborator, and educator based in the Shenandoah Valley. She delights in creating work that explores the Queer experience, gender roles, and neurodiversity. Kara also enjoys directing, developing new works, and performance coaching. She holds her M.LITT and MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University (MBU) and her B.A. in Theater Arts from Pace University. While in New York, Kara graduated from the improv comedy and sketch writing programs at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). Recent roles include Phillida in Galatea, Joan Go-To’t in The Birth of Merlin, and Richard III in Richard III. More about her work can be found at www.karahankard.com.

Katherine Mayberry is an actor, director, teacher, and dramaturge based in Michigan.  She holds MLitt and MFA degrees in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University/American Shakespeare Center, and has also studied Shakespearean acting with the London Theatre Exchange and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.  She is the executive director of the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, a touring company in Michigan which she helped to found.  Favorite recent roles include Elizabeth in Richard III, Arkadina in The Seagull, and Audrey in the world premiere of Blue-Eyed Hag (a Tempest prequel by former ASC actor Jim Lair Beard).  When she is not on stage, she can frequently be found teaching middle school and high school students at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where Shakespeare majors perform in the Rose, an early modern playhouse reconstruction.

She also teaches as an adjunct professor at Grand Valley State University and travels to many schools and theatre companies to teach workshops from students from middle school through professional levels.  For more information about the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, please visit www.pcshakespeare.com

Ariel Tatum is a Virginia-based performer originally from Nashville, TN. Ariel holds an MLITT/MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University, and recently performed as Galatea in Galatea and Mortimer Jr. in Edward II with Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble. Ariel is excited to join Silk Moth for the premiere of Wonder of our Stage! arielatatum.com

Jessie Trainum is a singer/songwriter and violinist from Harrisonburg. She enjoys singing her owns songs as well as her favorites, old and new. Jessie also plays an eclectic mix of violin pieces, blending classical style with traditional Celtic tunes.

Contemporary folk Americana singer-songwriter duo Clymer & Kurtz seamlessly blends intense and gentle melodies textured with harmonies, agile and inventive guitar playing, piano, and sometimes percussion. Based in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Maria Clymer and Christopher Kurtz have collaborated for decades, crafting music that is at once simple and rich, emotive and unique. Inspired by Over the Rhine, Indigo Girls, The Proclaimers, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Diamond Rio, Alison Krauss, Donna the Buffalo, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, and many others, their music has been called “freshly original” … “outside the usual run” … “subtle and always imaginative.”

Chris Johnston is an actor and music director who has performed all over the country for theaters such as The American Shakespeare Center, Salt Lake Shakespeare, Black Dog Theatre Company, and The Egyptian Theatre Company. Roles that he has performed include Macbeth in Macbeth, Enobarbus in Antony and Cleopatra, Feste in Twelfth Night, Flamenio in The White Devil and many more. His music directing credits include the World Premiere of The Willard Suitcases, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Peter and the Starcatcher, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, and several other titles. Chris received his MFA from Mary Baldwin University for Shakespeare & Performance.