Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare
“If anyone wants to dip their toes into Shakespeare, this is the play to see, it’s an hour of chaos, comedy and color.” – Jack Dewey, playing Ferdinand, King of Navarre
Reimagined in the kaleidoscopic swirl of the 1970s, this show is a groovy, glitter-drenched romp through the far-out follies of love and intellect. In this adaptation, the King of Navarre and his pals—bell-bottomed and bantering—vow to renounce pleasure and devote themselves to cosmic enlightenment and study. But their plans are hilariously upended when a quartet of fierce and feminist ladies arrive, igniting a tug-of-war between head and heart. Amid disco beats, lava lamps, and love sonnets scribbled on vinyl sleeves, Shakespeare’s sharp wit meets flower power in a counter-cultural comedy of mistaken identities, poetic showdowns, and the grooviest declarations of love this side of Woodstock.
Company Member Biographies
Riley Allen (Lighting Crew)
Riley is a first-year student from Illinois. This is her first production at K. In high school she was involved in orchestra pit, and now she is doing stage crew work.
Randa Alnaas (Props Lead)
Randa is an international student from Libya, who is double majoring in Theatre Arts and Business with a minor in German Studies. She did the New York Arts program in her sophomore year, where she was a Stage Management intern.
This is her second show to work on with the Festival Playhouse after she was the Stage Manager of our last spring musical production Little Shop of Horrors She loves the theatre community that we have here at Kalamazoo College, and she is happy to be part of it.
Sarah Baker (Set Construction)
Sarah is an intended Prelaw major and Religion minor. She adores working with everyone and appreciates their time. She thanks every single person who works on the show. She gives special thanks to Kirsten and Dr. Thomas.
Shaina Bai (Run Crew)
Shaina is a double major in Psychology and Theatre Arts. She is an international student from China, and is in her fourth year at K. Shaina has worked as a spot light and light board operator, and is honored and grateful to build a show with this amazing company!
Stacy Bartell (Technical Director)
Stacy considers herself a lifelong student of technical theater. Over more than two decades in the industry, Stacy has been a property manager, lighting designer, a scenic designer, a carpenter and a technical director. She has built everything from Broadway scenery to trade shows to a full set of light-up magic wands and has touched more than 350 productions in 5 states in her career, giving her a thorough breadth of experience. In her free time, Stacy can be found practicing Aerial arts, reading and learning the German language.
Chloe Briggs (Lead Electrician)
Chloe is excited to be helping in her 7th show at Festival Playhouse. She is a theatre major and religion minor. Chloe is part of Kalamazoo College’s Interfaith Group. She would like to thank her family and friends for their continuous support.
Mag Burkander (Charge Painter)
Mag is a first year student at K, and this is their first production with the Festival Playhouse.
Gracie Burnham (Assistant Stage Manager & Choreographer)
Gracie is a junior English and Theatre Arts double major and History minor. She has been involved in numerous Festival Playhouse productions with performance, makeup, and work on the sound team. Gracie also won 2nd place in the Farmer’s Alley Lumen Playwrighting Competition of 2025 and recently returned from a Study Away program at the University of Iowa’s summer writing festival. Additionally, she is the president of the Kalamazoo Bible Club, an Interfaith Student Leader, and a President’s Student Ambassador. She is super jazzed to be involved in Love’s Labour’s Lost!
Evelyn Calderon (Dramaturg)
This is Eve’s 9th show with Festival Playhouse, and she is just as excited to work on this one. She thanks Kirsten Sluyter for all the dramaturgical help.
Eleanor Campion (Lighting Designer)
Eleanor Campion ‘26 is thrilled to be the lighting designer for the Festival Playhouse’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost! Their enthusiasm for all things lighting has extended to designing the lighting for FP’s production of The Dutchman, fellow K student Michael D. Robertson’s SIP, and their own SIP this term. The only way they found to spend even more time in the theater was by also being employed by the FP’s Scene Shop. She is greatly proud of the efficiency and effort of the entire lighting team for such an impressive undertaking, and is so excited to share the production with an audience!
Derrick Chen (Lighting Crew)
Derrick is a junior Compute Science major with a Theatre minor. His first involvement with Festival Playhouse was last spring for Little Shop of Horrors and he’s excited to be on the Lighting Crew for Love’s Labour’s Lost.
Keegan Clarke (Wardrobe Crew Head)
Keegan is a freshman Psychology major who is very excited for her first production at K! She has never been on the production side of a show before, so she is stoked to try something new!
Elliot Corpuz (Sound Board Op)
Elliot is a first year student at K, and Love’s Labour’s Lost is his first show with the Festival Playhouse.
Bizzy Curtis (Usher)
Bizzy is excited to be a part of her 5th show with Festival Playhouse. As a senior at K, she is excited to share her final year at K with the most amazing group of people she knows. Thanks for letting her participate if only a little.
Cooper Dahl (Ensemble)
Cooper is a sophomore at K College and is performing as a member of the ensemble in Love’s Labour’s Lost. His first production with the Festival Playhouse was as Earnest in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Ava Dalton (Wig Team Head)
Ava is a sophomore Biology major at Kalamazoo College. Outside of her work at the Festival Playhouse, she is involved in the Crochet Club.
Maya Davis (Sound Designer)
Maya is a Music major and a Sophomore at K. This is the second show she’s sound designed for, and she is incredibly honored to be a part of this crew.
Jack Dewey (King Ferdinand of Navarre)
Dewey is a junior Theatre Arts major at Kalamazoo College. Outside of Festival Playhouse, he serves as one of the Directors of the Kalamadudes. In his spare time, he can be found playing D&D, reading the latest Brandon Sanderson novel, and trying to turn in his homework on time.
Vann Driver (Lighting Crew)
This is Vann’s first show at Festival Playhouse. He doesn’t have any first-hand experience in theatre, but he was surrounded by it in high school. He would like to thank Dr. Thomas for inspiring him to get involved in theatre.
Sally Eggleston (Light Board Operator and Lead Painter)
Sally is a senior Classical Civilizations major and Theatre minor. She has worked in the scene shop for the entirety of her time at K and loves getting involved with Festival Playhouse productions.
Owen Ellis (Costard)
Owen is a junior Theatre major. He has previously played the Lord of the Underworld/Nasty Interesting Man in Eurydice, and Rich in Be More Chill and Ensemble in Little Shop of Horrors. at the Festival Playhouse. Outside of theatre he sings baritone in the Kalamadudes and writes, records, and produces his own music independently. Owen would like to thank his wonderful family for their continuous support and his roommates for keeping him sane.
Francis Ernzen (House Manager)
Francis is a sophomore and a prospective History and Music major at Kalamazoo College. This is his second Festival Playhouse show of hopefully many more. In his spare time, he can be found daydreaming about writing, haunting various campus buildings, or doodling dragons – perhaps all at the same time.
Kellen Fisher (Set Construction and Run Crew)
Kellen did theatre for three years in high school and was extremely eager to get involved with Festival Playhouse here at K. Along with playing baseball, experiencingthe outdoors, and learning new languages, he considers theatre to be one of his greatest passions. He wants to give a special thank you to his first ever director, Mr. David Hanright, who helped him discover his love for theatre.
Sofia Gross (Run Crew)
Sofia is a first year at K, and this is her first time with a Festival Playhouse production! In the past, she’s done high school shows as an actor, and is thrilled to be a part of an amazing new experience on the crew.
Sarah Hagan (Ensemble)
Love’s Labour’s Lost is Sarah’s first production at the Festival Playhouse. She hopes to be part of many more!
Abram Haynes (Longeville)
Abram is a first-year student from Nashville, Tennessee. This is his first production with the Festival Playhouse. Offstage, he studies political science and a little French.
Regan Helmick (Ensemble)
Regan is a first year at K and this is her first show at the Festival Playhouse!
Thurston Hendrix (Ensemble)
Thurston is a sophomore here at Kalamazoo College. He is a Biochemistry major. He was also part of our last production. He is also involved with a capella, Choir and K Bible.
June Hobson (Makeup Crew)
June is a first-year student here at Kalamazoo College. They are planning on majoring in Psychology and Biology, with a neuroscience concentration. They are also involved in A capella and Visual Arts.
Weslee Innes (Props Team)
Weslee is a sophomore, outside of the Festival Playhouse, they are involved in College Singers, Crystal Queer, and Hillel. They love all aspects of theatre, and recently as a playwright had two of their short plays produced locally by Queer Theatre Kalamazoo! Weslee was involved with Festival Playhouse last year as a member of lighting crew, and is excited to be working on props for Love’s Labour’s Lost!
Eiden Jonaitis (Costume Shop)
Eiden is a freshman at Kalamazoo College, hoping to study Biology, Studio Arts and Political Science. Beyond getting involved in the Festival Playhouse, he is playing on the Kalamazoo College Lacrosse team. He’s like to thank the friends who convinced him to take a leap and try something new in his first term at Kalamazoo College.
Shay Kruse (Set Construction Crew)
Shay is a sophomore English and German double major as well as a proud member of the Festival Playhouse community! Spending her summer writing and directing plays for YMCA theatre camp, she is excited to bring her new knowledge of theater into this space. This term she is happy to come back to set construction and work with new and old friends.
Dewen Luo-Li (Rosaline)
Dewen is a freshman Biology/Quantitative Econ major on the pre-med track. Love’s Labour’s Lost is her first theatre experience, and she can’t imagine a better community to have started out with. In her free time she can be found reading, writing, running, and complaining about running. She would like to thank her family and friends for their support.
Astrid MacGreggor Westbury (Light Crew)
Astrid is a first-year student at K and is thus new to the Festival Playhouse. She has done theatre for the past years around Kalamazoo. In fact, she is coming off the tail end of her previous show at Dormouse Theatre. She is excited to be taking on these new challenges at the Festival Playhouse.
Sophia Mes (Makeup Head)
Sophia is a first year student at K, and Love’s Labour’s Lost is her first show with the Festival Playhouse.
Bernice Mike (Katherine)
Bernice is an international student from Romania double majoring in Theatre Arts and Psychology. Past work at the Festival Playhouse includes playing Eurydice in Eurydice ushering for The Importance of Being Earnest, managing social media for Little Shop of Horrors, as well as working in the scene shop and as an office assistant for the theatre. She would like to thank her boyfriend, both her Romanian and her American family for their continuous support, and Dr. Thomas for giving her this opportunity.
Tony Mitchell (Sound Mentor and Coordinator)
Tony wears many hats, but at the core, he is a musician and filmmaker. His expertise lies in post-production sound, where he works as a sound designer, audio mixing engineer, and composer. Additionally, he is an entrepreneur and business owner, leading a team of three exceptionally talented individuals at Texture House Sound & Visuals.
Sebastian Nelson (Moth)
Sebastian is a sophomore prospective English major. Sebastian is thrilled to do a part of his 3rd production at the Festival Playhouse! If not singing with the Kalamadudes or giving tours at the Admissions Office, he can be found reading Arthurian texts.
Sam Pattinson (Dumaine)
Sam is a freshman at Kalamazoo College, participating in his first Festival Playhouse production. He loves all of the arts and is a member of the Kalamadudes, as well as a visual artist. Sam would love to thank his friends and family both in and out of the production for how amazingly awesome they are.
Eric Perry (Scenic Designer and Lighting Associate)
MR. Perry, a local to Kalamazoo, has designed for many theaters around the area and enjoys sharing his talents with audiences from all over. He is excited to work with the wonderful team here at Kalamazoo College all season. He has traveled the country professionally always looking for ways to build on or add to his many skill sets. As a craftsperson he enjoys experimenting with new mediums all the time but most often can be found in some combination of wood and steel working. When not working he can be found outside enjoying nature or quietly at home with his 3 favorite creatures.
Ren Pruis (Artistic Director)
As a professor of Theatre Arts, Ren specializes in performance courses. From 2000 to 2023 she was a founding member of Queen’s Company in NYC, an all-female company devoted to producing clasical texts. Favorite credits there include the Cardinal in Duchess of Malfi, Gremio in Taming of the Shrew, and the title role in Macbeth. Some West Coast performance and direction credits include San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Electra Theatre Company, Central Works, Boscov Productions, Human Nature, and The Marsh. Ren also spent six years with Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Programs, as both an actor and manager of multiple shows that toured across the U.S. mainland and Hawaii. Ren holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from The American Conservatory in San Francisco, is a Fitzmaurice Voicework®Associate, and a member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association. Previous directing credits for the Festival Playhouse include Othello, Well Intentioned White People, Silent Sky, Twelfth Night, Intimate Apparel, for colored girls who have considered suicide…,
A Raisin in the Sun, Good Night Desdemona {Good Morning Juliet}, In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), Cloud 9, The Tempest, The Rover, Macbeth, Top Girls, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, As You Like It, Imaginary Invalid, and an all-female production of Hamlet. Locally she has directed for the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, Whole Art, and worked as an acting coach for the Grand Rapids Opera’s production of Stinny: An American Execution.
Akaash Raghunath (Lighting Crew)
Akaash is an English major at Kalamazoo College. His hobbies are being sarcastic, zoning out, and editing videos. Fun fact, Akaash’s sixth favorite country is Uzbekistan.
Ellie Redwine (Costume Props)
Ellie has been involved in theatre ever since kindergarten. She has been in many acting and dancing productions, and she always loved the stage and performances.
Ellie also does cosplay as a hobby and loves crafting spears and swords and accessories out of Eva Foam, PVC pipes and LED lights. Ellie is super excited to put her craftmanship into this Festival Playhouse production.
Amelia Saxton (Assistant Stage Manager)
This is Amelia’s first time at Festival Playhouse; however, she has done 3 years of high school theatre. For Amelia, it has been amazing working with Staff, crew, cast, and management team. She is planning on majoring in Biology with a minor in German studies. She is also a part of the equestrian team.
Halen Sherwood (Stage Manager)
Halen is a sophomore at Kalamazoo College double majoring in Theatre Arts and History. This is their fourth show with the Festival Playhouse, previously working with both stage management and lighting design. Outside of theatre, they love singing in Kalamazoo College Singers and learning as much as they can.
Kirsten Sluyter (Company Manager)
Kirsten is extremely grateful to be part of the team here at K, and doubly so to get to be a small part of this production. A graduate of the Arts Management program at Western Michigan University, she has experience working both the front and back of the house, and has stage managed shows like Violet, Priscilla Dreams the Answer, Am I Blue, Tigers Be Still, Haunted Houses, and The Art of Self Defense. She is a lover of all things theatre, and is thankful for any opportunity to learn more. She would like to thank her spouse Bennie for their love and immense support, and her kitties for making sure she always wakes up in time for breakfast.
Morgan Smith (Princess of France)
Morgan is a freshman and prospective Theatre and Music major, and is very excited to be in their first show with the Festival Playhouse. They’ve been seen doing shows with many community theatres in the area, including TRCP and Center Stage Theatre. When not in a show, they can be found with the College Singers and the Kalamadudes, as well as playing board games and drawing!
Laurel Stowers (Maria)
Laurel is a first year student at K, and Love’s Labour’s Lost is her first production with the Festival Playhouse.
Nolan Surach (Don Adriano de Armando)
Nolan is a junior psychology major excited to perform his first play here at the Festival Playhouse. Previous theatre experiences included California Suite and The Wedding Singer during the winter season of 2025 at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre. Nolan is looking forward to working with Dr. Quincy Thomas again. He would also like to thank his girlfriend, his family, and his theatre friends for all the support.
Mathias Takacs (Lighting Crew)
Mathias is a first-year student at Kalamazoo College. Some of her best memories come from Theatre and she hopes to make many more as she is working on lights this time and acting and other crew positions in future productions.
Dr. Quincy Thomas (Director)
Quincy’s Ph.D. in Theatre and their Performance Studies certification are both from Bowling Green State University. As an actor, director, intimacy coordinator, and playwright, their offerings focus on subjects such as counter-storytelling; Black performativity in American media; stand up and solo performance, and performative writing. As a Professor in the Kalamazoo College Theatre Arts Department, Quincy employs their passion for theatre, performance studies, and writing while speaking to issues surrounding cultural marginalization and misrepresentation in the arts, specifically of racial and ethnic minorities, women and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Asa director, their most recent offering is Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. As an actor, some of their favorite roles played include Christopher in Blue/Orange, Albert in Clybourne Park, Touchstone in As You Like It, Lord Longaville in Love’s Labours Lost, Selsdon in Noises Off, and Actor in Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit; Red Rabbit. As a writer their play, The Whites Explain It All, was selected as the full-length play for the 2023 Region III Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. When not seeing to these undertakings, Quincy is writing a novel and new play entitled, Complex Rhythms.
Jay Trebley (Berowne)
Jey is a freshman planning to double major in French and International Studies. After four years of doing theatre on and behind the stage in high school, they are very excited for their first college performance with the Festival Playhouse!
Hannah Ulanoski (Marcade)
Hannah is a senior double majoring in Theatre and East Asian Studies here at Kalamazoo College. This is her first time acting in a production, but she has worked behind the scenes in many previous shows outside of Festival Playhouse.
Hannah is involved in campus organizations. She is the president of ACAPOC and Crochet club. She is also the treasure of K-Rock. She also plays a few instruments — you could ask her all about Taiko Drumming. She is also a DSA for the Japanese Department.
Ian Whistler-Myers (Costume Designer, Costume Shop Supervisor)
Ian is the Festival Playhouse’s Costume Shop Supervisor and Costume Designer for the 2025-2026 season. He earned his BFA in Design and Technical Production, with a focus in Costume and Scenery Design, at Western Michigan University and holds an additional concentration in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Justice. Over the past couple of years he has designed costumes for shows like Little Shop of Horrors, Playhouse Creatures, Next to Normal, Be More Chill, Annie, First Date, Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic, Say Cheesecake! A Musical about Girls of a Golden Age, Witch, Lys, and many more! He hopes to continue his design work in the SW Michigan area and looks forward to a wonderful season here at the Festival Playhouse.
Jillian Whitton (Ensemble)
Jillian is a freshman at K, hoping to major in Biology. This is her first show with the Festival Playhouse and she is so excited to be involved! During high school, she occupied roles such as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Mrs. White in Clue. She would like to thank her friends and family!
Max Wright (Boyet)
Max Wright is a senior Theatre Arts and Classical Civilisations major at Kalamazoo College, and is very excited to be participating in their 9th show at the Festival Playhouse. Having previously acted in Othello, Be More Chill, and Little Shop of Horrors, this is their final show on stage here, and they would like to thank everyone they have worked with over the last four years for all of the experiences and lessons they’ve gotten. Outside of the theatre, Max can often be found singing with the Kalamadudes and sitting around campus with a book.