Barbara Gaines (Director) is the founder of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where she has directed more than 30 of Shakespeare’s plays. Her work has been honored with Jeff Awards for Best Production (Hamlet, The Tale of Cymbeline and King Lear) and for Best Director (The Tale of Cymbeline and King Lear). In 2005, Ms. Gaines was awarded the prestigious Honorary OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in recognition of her contributions strengthening British-American cultural relations. She received the 2007 Public Humanities Award from the Illinois Humanities Council this spring, and is the recipient of the 2004 Spirit of Loyola Award. Ms. Gaines serves on the Shakespearean Council of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London and is a Life Trustee of Northwestern University. She is a member of the Cultural Affairs Advisory Board for the City of Chicago and has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ron West (Shepperton Studio Scenes Writer) directed The People vs. Friar Laurence, The Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet, which he wrote with Phil Swann and which played for two summers Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Sometimes he joins the cast of Friar as Lord Capulet AKA The Guy Who Yells. Also with Phil Swann, he wrote the musicals deLEARious, Shakespeare's Greatest Hits, and Musical Fools. Without Phil Swann, Ron wrote and/or directed The Visitor; Sex, Death & Other Annoyances; Buddy Jack; The Andrea and Hep Show; and FOODSEXWORKSLEEPGOD. Come to think it, that last one has Swann/West songs in it. Ron collaborated with a lot of other people, none of whom were Phil Swann, on the musical Sex and The Second City and directed its international tour. Actually, he has directed a lot of shows for The Second City, including Iraqtile Disfunction and Curious George Goes to War, for which he received a Jeff Award. 300 years ago, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, Ron had all of one line in As You Like It by his good friend William Shakespeare. However, he did remember the line every time. He lives in Los Angeles, where the TV and movie people occasionally have him play The Guy Who Yells. The Doctor bats right and throws right.

Neil Patel (Scenic Designer) Chicago Shakespeare Theater credits include: The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure. Broadway credits include: Sideman, Ring of Fire and ‘Night Mother. Off-Broadway credits include: [title of show] (Vineyard); Here Lies Jenny (Zipper); Dinner With Friends (Variety Arts Theater); Living Out, A Soldier’s Play (Second Stage); The Mercy Seat, Runt of the Litter (MCC Theater); Hurrah at Last (Roundabout Theatre Company); Between Us, Glimmer, Glimmer, & Shine(MTC); The Long Christmas Ride Home (Vineyard Theater); The Beard of Avon, Lydie Breeze, Resident Alien, A Question of Mercy, Bob, Quills, Slavs (New York Theater Workshop); Lobster Alice (Playwrights Horizons); Henry V and Othello (New York Shakespeare Festival). Other credits include work at the Guthrie Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, Alley Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and work with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company of which he is a member. Opera credits include work at the New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, and Nikikai Opera in Tokyo. He was the recipient of EDDY Awards, Drama Desk Nominations, and two OBIE awards for sustained excellence.

Ana Kuzmanic (Costume Designer) returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where her credits include How Can You Run With a Shell on Your Back?, and the Short Shakespeare! productions of Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth and The Comedy of Errors. Other Chicago credits include costume designs for August: Osage County (at Steppenwolf Theater and on Broadway at the Imperial Theater); King Lear, directed by Bob Falls, and The Cook (Goodman Theatre); Argonautika (Lookingglass Theatre Company, directed by Mary Zimmerman); The Sparrow (The House Theatre), and productions at Cleveland Playhouse, Steppenwolf Theater Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, Arden Theatre and Greasy Joan & Co. She graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts and Design in Belgrade and earned her Masters Degree in Stage Design from Northwestern University. She is an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University and an Ensemble member of The House Theatre.

Robert Wierzel (Lighting Designer) Chicago Shakespeare Theater credits include lighting design for The Molière Comedies, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. Mr. Wierzel has worked in theater, dance, new music, museums and opera, on stages throughout the country and abroad. Regional theater credits include: Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre (Washington, D.C.), Milwaukee Repertory, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, The Guthrie Theater, Mark Taper Forum, and Berkeley Repertory. New York credits include: Roundabout Theatre Company, New York Shakespeare Festival, Signature Theatre Company, MCC Theater, Mostly Mozart Festival, and Broadway (David Copperfield’s debut Dreams and Nightmares). Opera credits include: Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theatre, New York City Opera, Glimmerglass, and opera companies across North America, Europe, and Asia. Other credits include collaborations with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance (Bessie Awards) and Philip Glass, including Hydrogen Jukebox (American Theatre Wing Award). He holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and serves on the faculty of the Design Department at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Lindsay Jones (Sound Designer) returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where his credits include: Troilus and Cressida, Marionette Macbeth, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Hecuba, The Merchant of Venice, Kabuki Lady Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Shakespeare’s R&J. Regional credits include projects with: Center Stage, American Conservatory Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage, The Old Globe, Hartford Stage, Pasadena Playhouse, Ford’s Theatre, Geva Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory, Indiana Repertory, and Lookingglass Theatre Company. Off-Broadway credits include: The God of Hell, Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams, In the Continuum, Luminescence Dating, String of Pearls, Boy, O Jerusalem, Beautiful Thing, and Closet Land. International credits include productions in Austria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Scotland and with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England. He is the recipient of four Jeff Awards and 11 nominations, an Ovation Award and two ASCAP Plus Awards, and was the first sound designer to win the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award.

Melissa Veal (Wigs and Makeup) Chicago Shakespeare Theater design credits include: Passion, Cymbeline, Troilus and Cressida, The Three Musketeers, Short Shakespeare! The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Hamlet, Hecuba, A Flea in Her Ear, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 (at CST and at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon), Much Ado About Nothing, Short Shakespeare! Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, Measure for Measure, The Merry Wives of Windsor, King John, The Molière Comedies, A Little Night Music, Rose Rage: Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 and 3 (at CST and The Duke on 42nd Street), The Taming of the Shrew, and wig supervisor for The School for Scandal. Canadian credits include: 10 seasons with the Stratford Festival, where she was the recipient of four Tyrone Guthrie Awards, including the Jack Hutt Humanitarian Award, Canadian Stage Company, Canadian Opera Company, Tarragon Theatre, Mirvish Productions and long-time association with The Grand Theatre in London.

Christine Adaire (Vocal Coach) returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where her credits include: The Two Noble Kinsmen, A Flea in Her Ear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, Troilus and Cressida, Twelfth Night, Othello and Richard III. Other Chicago credits include: The Iphigenia Cycle, Life Is a Dream (Court Theatre); Floyd and Clea Under the Western Sky (Goodman Theatre); Oliver!, Brigadoon (The Mariott Theatre); The Master and Margarita (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Orpheus Descending (American Theatre Company); and Frozen (Next Theatre). Regional credits include projects with Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Santa Cruz and Theatre for a New Audience (New York). She has been a core company member of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts for 24 years. She has taught at DePaul University, The National Theatre School of Canada, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Shanghai Theatre Academy in China, the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona, Spain, and currently is on the faculty of the Theatre Conservatory at The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Bob Mason (Casting Director) is in his eighth season as casting director at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where his classical credits cover more than two-thirds of Shakespeare’s canon, including 12 productions with Artistic Director Barbara Gaines. Other CST productions of note include a quartet of Stephen Sondheim musicals (Pacific Overtures, Sunday in the Park with George, A Little Night Music, and Passion) directed by Gary Griffin, as well as Rose Rage: Henry VI Parts 1, 2 & 3 (director Edward Hall) and The Molière Comedies (director Brian Bedford). Additional Chicago casting credits include: the Sondheim/ Hal Prince premiere of Bounce (Goodman Theatre and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts); The Good War, The Immigrant (Northlight Theatre); The Boys Are Comin’ Home, Asphalt Beach (Northwestern University’s American Music Theatre Project); and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Royal George Cabaret). Prior to casting, Bob enjoyed a 15-year career as a Jeff Award-winning Chicago actor and singer and has been a visiting educator for the School at Steppenwolf and Northwestern University.