About Us

A History of the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival

The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival (CSF) was founded in 1998 by three local theater artists/students in the Master of Fine Arts program of the Theater and Dance Department at Case Western Reserve University . In its first year CSF produced The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth on the CWRU campus, running for three weeks. The talents of actors and staff, as well as costumes and props, were all donated. Word spread of the energetic new theater company, and 1,500 people attended its performances. In 1999 the Festival performed A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V and Edward III over a six- week run as attendance rose to 3,000. We received special recognition from The Institute of Outdoor Drama and The Wall Street Journal cited our production of Edward III, which was an American premiere. Also, our new website www.cleveshakes.org helped foster a wider awareness of CSF.

In the fall of 1999, CSF's founding members were drawn away from the area for continued education and career advancement. Three actors from the company stepped forward to lead the Festival during its third season. The year 2000 saw the founding members move on to pursue education and career advancement and three actors associated with the Festival since its inception stepped forward to produce Love's Labor's Lost and The Comedy of Errors . These plays were performed at a new location, the Community Colonnade in the City of Shaker Heights , and Love's Labor's Lost was awarded ‘Best Show of 2000” by Cleveland 's Scene Magazine. In its next season CSF performed Coriolanus and Much Ado About Nothing at the Shaker Colonnade and on the Western Campus of Cuyahoga Community College in Parma. 2001 also saw the addition of an educational internship program, allowing high school and college actors to participate in professional theater productions.

For 2002 CSF was awarded the first Danny Morris Equity Contract which made possible the hiring of an Equity actor. 2002 was also marked by a successful fundraising benefit. The season's productions of Henry IV and As You Like It drew over 4,000 audience members. In 2003 the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival performed Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night , the latter directed by the Associate Artistic Director of the Cleveland Playhouse. The Cleveland Metro campus of Cuyahoga Community College was added as a third venue during this season.

Over the next five seasons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Larry Nehring, CSF continued to perform Shakespeare's plays on outdoor stages across Northeast Ohio . In 2005 CSF was awarded an ACE grant to provide funding for the inclusion of American Sign Language Interpreters so a number of that season's performances could be enjoyed by our deaf community. Thus the bard's work and professional theater were made available, free, to a variety of community audiences. In addition to the venues already mentioned CSF has performed at the Kulas Community Stage in University Circle's Wade Oval, the School of Fine Arts in Willoughby, Pilgrim Congregational Church and the Lincoln Park Gazebo in the Tremont district of Cleveland, the Stocker Arts Center Amphitheater at Lorain County Community College, the Penitentiary Glen Nature Center Amphitheater in Kirtland, Solon Center for the Arts, and the Falls River Square Amphitheater in Cuyahoga Falls. CSF has also performed at Cleveland's Ingenuity Festival, Akron's First Night, the University of Rochester's Todd Theater and the Great Lakes Medieval Faire where Mr. Nehring's abridged versions of Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream , directed by current Artistic Director - Tyson D. Rand, were performed in repertory for a total of 48 performances over eight weekends.

The first non-Shakespeare plays performed by CSF were Ryan JW Smith's Sweet Love Adieu, a Midwest premiere, in 2006, and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which ran in repertory with Shakespeare's Hamlet at six different outdoor venues in our 2008 season.

Since 2002 CSF has hosted fundraising events at a variety of locations including Cleveland 's Great Lakes Brewery, the Pilgrim Congregational Church and the Lava Lounge night club – both in Cleveland 's historic Tremont neighborhood, and the Phoenix Coffee Shop, the Heights Arts Gallery and Heights Arts Studio in Cleveland Heights . Featured at some of these venues this past winter was an abridged version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, also adapted by our own Larry Nehring.

With a grant from the George Gund Foundation, CSF board and staff will strengthen the capacity of CSF to provide high quality, free classic theater for many years to come through a strategic planning process and new fundraising initiatives. We look forward to seeing you at our performances!

The CSF Mission Statement;
To produce accessible Shakespearian Theater for the people of North-eastern Ohio, free of charge.

The CSF Mission Synopsis;
The mission of the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival is to produce exceptional, accessible theater, drawing influence from the works of William Shakespeare. We celebrate the talents of local artists in all aspects of production and excite contemporary audiences with the timeless themes of great theatre. We offer free summer performances in a festive atmosphere, educational outreach programs, and creative collaborations with other groups. Being a theater company in which inspired theater students are given the opportunity to work with seasoned professionals, we provide a unique and realistic experience to enhance their studies through the practical application of their craft.

The CSF Philosophy;
The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival is dedicated to bringing plays of professional quality to audiences in the Greater Cleveland area as a way of encouraging community through theater. By performing out of doors in numerous locations, we reach audience members that would be less likely to travel to a down town theater or may be uncomfortable in a more traditional theater setting. Making these performances available free of charge brings to those who could not ordinarily afford the price of a theater ticket, the experience of audience and actor communing through the contemporary performance of classic literature.

The emphasis of our local, professional artists is on making the words and poetry of each play accessible to family members of all ages and cultural backgrounds. These practices, all deeply familiar to Shakespeare's original theatre, allow the plays to act as education, cultural initiation, and contemporary entertainment – an exciting way for our community to expand its understanding of classic theatre and recognize the art form's value in today's society.

We believe that the power and inspiration of live theater has a positive impact on every life it touches. It is our desire to share this amazing gift with the communities we, as artists, call our home.

Staff:

Executive/Artistic Director, Tyson Douglas Rand is a 36-year veteran of the performing arts. He has been working as a professional theatre artist since 1982, acting, directing and designing productions for academic, community and regional/professional theatres. He joined CSF as an actor in 2005 and has since served as Props Master, Designer, Director, Production Manager, Managing Director and now as Artistic Director.

Production Manager, Aaron D. Elersich has over 20 years of experience in theatrical production both artistically as a performer and technically. He has at various times been a props master, weapons wrangler, fight captain, flight operator, carpenter, stagehand, costumer, stage manager and assistant director. Aaron has over 10 years of managerial experience ranging from retail and restaurant management to 3 years spent as crew chief and assistant bar manager on the largest passenger vessel on the Great Lakes.

Board of Trustees – Cleveland Shakespeare Festival  

Rodger M. Govea is the Board Chair of CSF. He is Chair of the Department of Political Science at Cleveland State University .  He received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University in 1979.  His acting experience at the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival includes roles in Richard III and in All's Well that Ends Well .  He has also performed at Dobama, Cleveland State University , Solon Community Theater, and in Bishkek , Kyrgyzstan.

Larry Nehring, the Board Vice-Chair, is an actor, director, combat choreographer, and ASL interpreter. He is currently teaching American Sign Language as an adjunct professor at Kent State University . He holds a B.A. in English and Theatre from the University of Rochester and an M.S. in curriculum development from U.R./Rochester Institute of Technology . Involved with CSF from its inception, he served as the organizations Artistic Director from the 2000 season through the 2008 season. He has worked at nearly every theatre around Cleveland , most recently directing Children of a Lesser God at Weathervane, twice reprising the role of Lumiere in Beck Center 's Beauty & the Beast , and playing Brophy and the Provost at Great Lakes Theatre Festival's 2007 Fall Rep of Arsenic and Old Lace and Measure for Measure . His play End of the Road was chosen as a semi-finalist at the National Playwright's Conference. He is a member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Actors' Equity, and the Screen Actor's Guild.

Christine Madden is a 2007 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College with a BA in Theatre and a minor in Organizational Management. Her passion for organization and the arts is reflected in her unique combination of creative and managerial skills. Christine is also a strong believer in the power of arts education and in addition to her work with CSF she is also the Theatre Education Coordinator at the Solon Center for the Arts. Christine has also taught and choreographed dance extensively throughout NE Ohio .Christine is a voting board member and Board Treasurer.

Kristina Hewis, Board Secretary

Monica Gordon Pershey is Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, Cleveland State University , where she teaches courses in child language and literacy development. She holds a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and is a certified and licensed speech-language pathologist. Her research in language and literacy development, over 100 articles, has appeared in numerous academic journals in the fields of speech-language pathology and education. Dr. Pershey also provides speech-language clinical services for University Hospitals. Pershey served on the board of directors of the Northern Ohio Branch of the International Dyslexia Association and she is a member of the editorial boards of several academic journals.

Austin Barnes is an attorney with the law firm of Morris I. Hardwick and Schneider. He has over 17 years of legal experience in foreclosure, bankruptcy, eviction, tax and real estate. He is an Ohio University graduate with a BBA in Finance. He received his JD from the University of Akron Law School and Masters in Tax degrees from the University of Akron School of Accountancy. He has served on the board of CSF for five years. He is also President of the Goodfriendship Chapter #63 of the AHEPA in Akron , Ohio .

John E. Martindale holds a BA from Harvard and a JD from Cleveland Marshall Law School . His theatre involvement began in high school, but really evolved as a trial lawyer with 45 years experience – He claims a lot more experience in theatre than most actors! 

Dr. Carrie A. Bassett is a 2002 Graduate of Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She also holds Degrees from Ohio University  in Biological Science and French. Currently Dr. Bassett practices Internal Medicine in her own Private Practice located in Warrensville Heights , Ohio , as well as serving as Clinical Assistant Professor for OUCOM Medical students at South Pointe Hospital . In addition to The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival Board of Trustees, Dr. Bassett also sits on the Infection Control and Peer Review Committees At South Pointe. 

Park Goist Former Director of the American Studies Program and a member of the Theater Arts Faculty at Case Western Reserve University , Park is also a playwright and poet. His plays have been performed in New York at the Harold Clurman Theatre, in Cleveland at the Cleveland Play House, Ensemble and Dobama Theatres and at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe , Africa . His Ph.D. in History was earned at the University of Rochester . He has taught at Colgate , Kent State University, and for 30 years at CWRU. He is a published author in urban culture and American literature.