MISF Team
Check out the incredible talent behind the 2023 Mackinac Island Shakespeare Festival!
Raphael Massie
Director, As You Like It
Raphael Massie (he/him) is a multi-hyphenate director, actor, educator, etc. focused on the interrogation of western classical theatre, and how social and cultural factors can impact and enhance performance. He has worked at Shakespeare and Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Elm Shakespeare, and numerous other theatres and universities in the U.S. and abroad. He is a Drama League of NY Classical Directing Fellow (2013), OSF Killian Fellowship finalist (2019), and was the Associate Director on critically acclaimed productions of The Cymbeline Project at OSF and The Merchant of Venice at Shakes and Co. Directing Credits include: Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Emilia [reading], Associate Director, The Cymbeline Project; Asst. D, How to Catch Creation); Shakespeare and Company (Associate , Cymbeline, The Merchant of Venice; Assistant, Mother Courage and Her Children), Elm Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet), Connecticut Repertory Theatre (Pericles), Advice to the Players (Twelfth Night), Collective Consciousness (Detroit ’67), Northcott Theatre (Measure for Measure, UK); Southern CT State U (Julius Caesar, Polaroid Stories, Stop Kiss, Lysistrata), UC Riverside (Dr. Faustus), Trinity College (Measure for Measure). He has been seen on stage at Hartford Stage (Romeo and Juliet), Long Wharf Theatre (Much Ado About Nothing), Elm Shakespeare (Twelfth Night, Three Musketeers, Hamlet, Macbeth, various), ArtFarm (King Lear, Midsummer), Elysium Theatre Company (The Henriad/War of the Roses, UK), and more. Raphael holds an MFA with Distinction in Staging Shakespeare from the University of Exeter (UK), as well as a BA in Theatre and a BS Education from Southern CT State U.
Doreen Bechtol
Director, Julius Caesar
Doreen Bechtol (she/her) hails from Staunton, VA where she is a Professor and Co-Program Director of the Shakespeare and Performance graduate program at Mary Baldwin University in partnership with the American Shakespeare Center. As a collaborative director and movement choreographer, Doreen directs and co-directs classical theatre along with devising original work. Recent directing projects include: 1 Henry VI, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Antigone, Love of the Nightingale, Marie Antoinette, Blood Wedding, Eurydice, Metamorphoses, Between Beats, #ThursdayNext, Richard III, Hamlet, Pericles. Doreen is also a founding member of the Performers Exchange Project, a company dedicated to developing and performing original works based in Charlottesville, VA.
Hannah "Rock" Roccisano (she/her) is a New York City based fight and intimacy director, director, educator and Shakespeare nerd. Her work has been seen off-Broadway including Wolf Play, A Bright New Boise, and Montag this season. Rock has additionally choreographed regionally and at multiple universities such as Columbia University, Syracuse University and the Hartt School. She is a Certified Teacher with the SAFD and holds two masters degrees, an MFA and Master of Letters in Shakespeare & Performance from Mary Baldwin University. Hannah is the Chair of Development for the SAFD and the founder of Expand, Educate, Empower, an initiative bringing free stage combat training to students in underserved communities across the U.S.
Hannah Roccisano
Fight Director, As You Like It
Maurice-Aimé Green
Actor
Maurice-Aimé Green (he/him) is a multihyphenate artist from Las Vegas, Nevada. Previous classical credits include Friar Lawrence and Paris in Romeo and Juliet (Great River Shakespeare Festival), Oswald in King Lear (Utah Shakespeare Festival), and Longaville in Love’s Labour’s Lost (Nevada Conservatory Theatre). Green was featured in staged readings of new musicals at Philadelphia’s Polyphone Festival (The Real Whisper - music and lyrics by Greta Gertler-Gold, book and lyrics by Akin Salawu) and the Las Vegas Composer’s Showcase (Angel of Arkansas - music by Richard Oberacker, book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker). On television, he was featured in last year’s opening segment for the NFL Draft, shot in his hometown. Green completed his BFA in Stage and Screen Acting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2020. Continue to follow Green’s adventures on Instagram @_MA.Green.
Jessie Lillis
Actor
Jessie Lillis (she/her) is an actor, director, and co-founder of Starling Shakespeare Company. She graduated in 2020 from Mary Baldwin University’s Shakespeare and Performance MFA program with a concentration in directing. Past roles include Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Troilus in Troilus and Cressida, Face in The Alchemist, Leartes/Guilderstone in Q1 Hamlet, and Moll in The Roaring Girl. A Coldwater, Michigan native, Jessie is thrilled to be returning to her home state for the third annual Mackinac Island Shakespeare Festival.
Ryan Wilson (he/they) graduated from Mary Baldwin University’s Shakespeare and Performance MFA program in 2019 with a concentration in directing. Since graduating, Ryan has worked with the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival and the American Shakespeare Center as an assistant director; he also returned to Mary Baldwin for assistant director positions in their undergraduate and graduate theatre programs. As a performer, Ryan’s favorite roles include Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Charles the Dauphin in The Lark, and Lucio in Measure for Measure. Ryan’s areas of interest include devising, ensemble building, interactive theatre, and the horror genre. Ryan is so excited and grateful to return for his third season with the Mackinac Island Shakespeare Festival, and would like to thank his friends and family for their continued support.
Ryan Wilson
Actor
Actor
Lloyd Wayne Taylor (he/him) is a Filipino-American actor, writer, and educator. He received his MFA in Theatre from the University of Houston Professional Actor Training Program. Selected credits include: Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lama in The Oldest Boy, Roger in Silence, Ray in Lone Star, and Gail in Our Lady of 121st Street. He has also worked with the Houston Grand Opera, Houston Equity Festival, and Stages Houston.
Lloyd looks to reinvigorate the theatre scene and further representation - telling stories from all walks of life. Art is a "practice of empathy" for him, and he hopes to share that same passion with everyone at Starling Shakespeare Company.
He is eternally grateful for his family, friends, and every dog that has ever existed.
Lloyd Wayne Taylor
Heron Kennedy
Actor
Heron Kennedy (she/her) is an actor and educator currently based in Philadelphia, and co-founder and artistic director of Starling Shakespeare Company. She began work on SSC in 2020 after graduating with her MFA from Mary Baldwin University's MLitt/MFA Shakespeare and Performance program. During her time at MBU, Heron performed in numerous Shakespeare and other early modern plays, in addition to designing props, crafting workshops, and teaching two undergraduate courses. Prior to pursuing her master's degrees, Heron worked as an actor and educator in New England, and is a graduate of Rhode Island college. Favorite roles have included Imogen in Cymbeline, Hamlet in Q1 Hamlet, Miranda in The Tempest, and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. She is deeply grateful to be returning as an actor for the 2023 season, and for the opportunity to work with this wonderful team.
Jessica Boyles
Stage Manager
Jessica Boyles (she/her) earned her MFA from Mary Baldwin University's Shakespeare and Performance program. During her time there she directed productions such as The Roaring Girl and Q1 Hamlet. She has worn many hats, working as an actor and dramaturg, and her most recent production as a stage manager was a Renaissance style production of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist. Jessica has been teaching 8th grade English for the last two years, and she is very excited to get back into theatre this summer with Starling Shakespeare Company.
Andrea Williams
Designer
Andrea Williams (she/her) graduated in 2007 from the University of Arkansas with a M.F.A. in Costume Design and Technology and received her B.A. from Ripon College in 2004 with majors in Theatre, History, and Classical Studies. She has since worked professionally at several theatres and universities across the country as a Costume Technician and Designer. These include; American Players Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Goodman, Writer's Theatre, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre, The Milwaukee Rep, Kansas State, Northern Illinois University, Eastern Washington University, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Texas A&M University-Commerce. She particularly enjoys historical costuming and is also known for her baking (especially if it involves chocolate).