Camp Faculty
Each summer, Camp Shakespeare Teaching Artists create a unique curriculum aimed at optimizing students’ physical, intellectual and artistic development. All Teaching Artists are classically trained professional actors and educators.
The energy and fervor of the faculty is one of the things I value and love best about the camp. They inspire you, and their excitement rubs off on you and makes you want to dive in.
Sarah Hirsch, Camper
Samantha Wyer, Director of Education – Samantha K. Wyer was appointed Director of Education of Shakespeare Theatre Company in December 2010, where she provides vision and direction for STC’s School, Community Engagement, Training and Audience Enrichment Programs whose core purpose is to offer dynamic avenues of exploration that challenge individuals to seize the ideas contained in classic texts and to find the union between classic theatre and modern relevancy. Previously, Ms. Wyer served as Director of Education/Associate Artistic Director at Arizona Theatre Company for 13 seasons, where she led the creation of the education mission, department staffing design and development of 80% of new programming during her term. In partnership with government, educational and social agencies, she created more than 450 education and community enrichment activities throughout Arizona while serving as a passionate ambassador and community liaison for arts education. Under her leadership, ATC received the Outstanding Arts Education Organization award from Tucson Pima Arts and Business Council. Ms. Wyer has been a grants panelist and guest speaker for arts organizations including Theatre Communications Group, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Tucson Pima Arts Council, Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture and West Valley Arts Council and has taught and directed for University of Missouri, Arizona State University and University of Arizona. In 2007, Ms. Wyer was awarded the Buffalo Exchange Arts Award by the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. She is also a proud member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers union and partial directing credits include The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Moon for the Misbegotten, To Kill a Mockingbird, Three Sisters, I Am My Own Wife, Noises Off!, Permanent Collection and Wit.
Vanessa Hope, Camp Director – Vanessa Hope is the School Programs Manger for the Shakespeare Theatre Company. In this position, she manages Text Alive!, Camp Shakespeare and Artist in the Classroom programs. She creates the core curricula, hires, trains and supervises teaching artists and creates partnerships. She also teaches Master Acting Classes, including Acting for Business Professionals, and Introduction to Shakespeare. She is a founding member of the Faction of Fools Theatre Company, devoted to the classical style of commedia dell’arte. She holds an MFA in Acting from Purdue University, where she taught Intro to Acting and Voice for the Actor, as well as a BFA in Acting from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She also studied Shakespeare at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Prior to working in D.C., Buono lived in Los Angeles, where she was the assistant sales manager for Launch Pad Communications, a marketing company with more than 500 sales associates. While in Los Angeles she also appeared on American Dreams, ER and All of US and was a member of the improv troupe The Berubians.
Jim Gagne is the Resident Teaching Artist for the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Acting credits include Jack the Ticket Ripper (Georgetown Theatre Company), We Won't Pay, We Won't Pay (The Hub Theatre), Heart of a Dog, Fool for Love (Spooky Action Theater), The Nature and Purpose of the Universe (Circle of Fools), Cymbeline (Dog and Pony DC), Ninja Motorcycle Babes (Notorious Women), One Man’s War (Triad Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Everyman Theatre), St. Joan, Romeo and Juliet (Olney Theatre Center), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Our Town (National Players Tour 55). As a teacher Jim has worked with a wide variety of students ranging from kindergartners to senior citizens. Jim received a BFA from The Hartt School at The University of Hartford.
Affiliated Teaching Artists
Carolyn Agan is a professional actress and teaching artist in the greater Washington Area. She has performed at regional theatres including Ford's Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Center, Theater J, Keegan Theatre, Washington Savoyards, and Adventure Theatre. Notable roles include: A Christmas Carol (Belle) at Ford's Theatre, Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey) at Olney Theatre Center, and Two Gentlemen of Verona: a rock opera (Bird, Soprano) at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. She began her teaching career in Fairfax County Public Schools and currently works with the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Ford's Theatre and The Smithsonian Associates.
Dan Crane’s STC credits include Lord Grey in Richard III and Hounslow in The Beaux’ Stratagem. As an actor Dan has worked at companies across the United States, including Imagination Stage (Maryland), Kitchen Theatre (New York), Idaho Shakespeare Festival (Idaho), PCPA Theaterfest (California) and Portland Center Stage (Oregon). He is a graduate of the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts, holds a BFA from Ithaca College and an MFA from the Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University.
Jim Gagne is the Resident Teaching Artist for the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Acting credits include Jack the Ticket Ripper (Georgetown Theatre Company), We Won't Pay, We Won't Pay (The Hub Theatre), Heart of a Dog, Fool for Love (Spooky Action Theater), The Nature and Purpose of the Universe (Circle of Fools), Cymbeline (Dog and Pony DC), Ninja Motorcycle Babes (Notorious Women), One Man’s War (Triad Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Everyman Theatre), St. Joan, Romeo and Juliet (Olney Theatre Center), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Our Town (National Players Tour 55). As a teacher Jim has worked with a wide variety of students ranging from kindergartners to senior citizens. Jim received a BFA from The Hartt School at The University of Hartford.
George Grant’s Shakespeare Theatre Company credits include The Tempest, Othello, Peer Gynt, The Merry Wives of Windsor as well as All's Well That Ends Well and The Merry Wives of Windsor at Carter Barron Amphitheatre (Free For All). Other regional performance credits include the Goodman Theatre and the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. Grant received his BA in Theatre from Lawrence University and his MFA from the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University as a member of the inaugural class.
Paul Hope is a 2001 MFA graduate of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting. Prior to moving to D.C. in the fall of 2009, he was based out of New York City where he worked as an actor, teaching artist, fight choreographer and music director. NYC credits include Red Bull Theatre and Folding Chair Classical Theatre, including Cymbeline, Our Country’s Good and The Oresteia. Regional credits include Lake George Theatre Lab, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre and Oregon Cabaret Theatre. D.C. credits include Burn Your Bookes, Bootleg Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida and Cymbeline with Taffety Punk Theatre Company. Paul also has a BFA from Millikin University, has studied at the Royal National Theatre Studio and is a member of Actors Equity Association.
Joy Jones is an actor, acting teacher, playwright and native Washingtonian. Joy has performed with the Washington Shakespeare Company, Washington Stage Guild and American Century Theatre. Her New York and regional acting credits include The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, The Lincoln Center Festival, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Denver Center, PlayMakers Repertory, Arkansas Repertory Theatre and others. As a teacher, Joy has taught Shakespeare and classical acting with Theatre for a New Audience, The Shakespeare Project, PlayMakers Repertory, Arkansas Repertory, The American Globe Theatre, and the Washington Shakespeare Company. Joy has an Acting MFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a BA in Theatre from the University of Virginia, a Certificate in Classical Acting from the British American Drama Academy, a Certificate in Arts in Education from the Actors Fund, and a Certificate in Curriculum Development from the University of North Carolina.
Jess Jung holds an MFA in Directing from The Theatre School at De Paul University (Chicago, IL). Directing credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, Imagination Stage, Rorschach Theatre, Young Playwrights’ Theatre, Traveling Player’s Ensemble, Walden Theatre, Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, and The Theatre School. Dramaturgy credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and Young Playwrights’ Theatre. Jess received her BA in Theatre from Augsburg College (Minneapolis, MN), and has also studied with The Gaiety School of Acting (Dublin, Ireland).
Casey Kaleba has served as fight director on more than 200 academic and professional productions, including many at the Folger Theatre, Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Rorschach Theatre, Studio 2ndStage and the National Players. Kaleba serves on the faculty of Rapier Wit Studios in Toronto and the Paddy Crean Workshop. A member of the Society of American Fight Directors, Fight Directors Canada and the Nordic Stagefight Society, he has taught at the University of Maryland, College Park, Old Dominion University and George Mason University, and currently teaches at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Nafeesa Monroe has been a professional film, television and stage actress for over twenty years in Los Angeles, New York, and D.C. She is a graduate of The Meisner School of Acting and received her MFA from the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University. Some film and television credits include: I’m Through with White Girls, Jamie Foxx Show and The Bold and The Beautiful. A few of her theatre credits include: Hello Herman (Off-Off Broadway); Oliver and Peter Pan (TheatreWorks, CA); Company Policy (Pipedream Prods, CA); The Journey to Becoming (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). As a spoken word artist, Nafeesa has opened for Jewel, appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry, and performed alongside bestselling author Neale Donald Walsch. Nafeesa is also a mastered martial artist and works as a fight choreographer and stage combat instructor.
Chris Niebling is an Artistic Associate for Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC) and The Inkwell, a graduate of Oberlin College, and a recognized Advanced Actor/Combatant and member of The Society for American Fight Directors. He has worked as an actor, director, fight choreographer or combination thereof at numerous regional theatres including: CSC, Red Eye Gravy, Journeyman Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, Solas Nua, Washington Shakespeare Company, The Hatchery Festival, Catalyst Theatre Company, Rep Stage, Carroll Community College and Alvernia College.
Amie Root is a fight director, choreographer and stage combat/movement instructor based out of the D.C. area. She has a degree in theater from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where her focus was on physical theater and stage combat. She has trained in many movement styles such as Suzuki, Laban and Alexander, and has been a recognized advanced actor combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors. Recently, she was faculty at SAFD sanctioned workshops hosted by the University of Kentucky, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Regent University-Virginia Beach, as well as the National Stage Combat Workshop hosted by North Carolina School of the Arts and Central Illinois Stage Combat Workshop at Eureka College.
Eva Wilhelm holds an MFA in Classical Acting from the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University. Locally, she has appeared in productions at Folger Theatre, Studio Theatre, Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Faction of Fools and Taffety Punk Theatre Company. In Chicago, she worked with Court Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Shattered Globe and Stage Left, among many others. She is currently an Associate Producer with Faction of Fools.
Jaclyn Young is an educator, an actor and a photographer. Jaclyn has performed across the country with The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (NJ), Civic Theatre of Allentown (PA), and toured with Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre (MN). Local acting credits include Open Circle Theatre, Smithsonian Discovery Theatre, Imagination Stage and many others. She holds a BA in Theatre from The College of William and Mary and is a graduate of the University College of Dublin International Summer School: Performing Ireland, Representing Ireland. She currently teaches Theatre Arts for Fairfax County Public Schools.
(Teaching Artists are subject to change without notice)