KAILEY POTTER, CO-FOUNDER [she/her]
Kailey is an actor, educator, and choreographer from Greenville, SC and holds an MFA and MLitt in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University.
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As an actor, credits include The Taming of the Shrew (Mortal Fools Collective), The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Tempest (Vagabond Shakespeare), a swing in the premiere of Alice (South Carolina Children's Theatre), and Henry IV: Tread on Kings (Elsewhere Shakespeare).
She is a Lecturer of Theatre/Acting at Clemson University, and has worked as a teaching artist with​ Shakespeare & Company, the Warehouse Theatre, and the American Shakespeare Center.
BETH SOMERVILLE, CO-FOUNDER [she/her]
Beth is a director, actor, teacher, and stage manager from Portland, Maine. She earned her Master of Letters and Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in directing from Mary Baldwin University’s Shakespeare and Performance program in partnership with the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia.
She has recently enjoyed directing for Shakespeare & Company’s Fall Festival, stage managing the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, and acting and teaching for Portland Stage’s Education Department.
Beth is passionately dedicated to the idea that performing and enjoying Shakespeare is for anyone who wants to come play and explore.
LOUIS ALTMAN, GIOVANNI [he/him]
Louis Altman is a versatile actor who performs in theatre, film, and commercials. While training in Mary Baldwin’s Shakespeare & Performance Master’s Program, Louis has worked professionally for the American Shakespeare Center, Silver Line Theatre Exchange, and Mended Wing Theatre Co on top of performing in over a dozen commercials/industrials, a dozen short films, and five feature films. Some of his favorite roles include: Macbeth in Macbeth, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
BECCA WESTBROOK, ANNABELLA/BANDITTI [she/they]
Becca is an Actor, Director, and Fight Choreographer, currently based in Staunton, VA. She is a current MFA student with MBU Shakespeare & Performance, producing theatre with her MFA company, Constellation Shakespeare Collective. Some recent credits include: Hermione/Perdita - Winter’s Tale, Malcolm/Witch - Macbeth (CSC); Emilia - Two Noble Kinsmen, Director - Anima, Co-Director - As You Like It (MBU S&P). Up next, catch her in All’s Well That Ends Well and The Woman in the Moon with CSC in the spring. She’s so excited to be working with Mortal Fools Collective, and hopes you enjoy this heart-wrenching show!
CHASE FOWLER, FLORIO [he/they]
Chase D. Fowler is an Appalachian-based artist excited to work with the Mortal Fools Collective for the first time! He holds an MLitt and MFA from Mary Baldwin University where he studied Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Some favorite previous credits include Lussurioso in The Revenger’s Tragedy, Alan in Bellwether (with OLSS), Pompey/Dolabella in Antony & Cleoptra (Cumberland Theatre), and Jess in Complete Works… Abridged (Wisconsin Shakespeare). A few favorite directing credits include Macbeth and Edward II (OLSS) and Duchess of Malfi (Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble). He hopes you enjoy the show!
JOAN RAUBE-WILSON, HIPPOLITA/CARDINAL/PHILOTIS/BANDITTI [she/her]
Joan Raube-Wilson is thrilled to be reuniting with the Mortal Fools after performing in their three-hand Taming of the Shrew last summer. Originally from Binghamton, NY, Joan has just earned an MLitt in Shakespeare & Performance from Mary Baldwin University, and is now part of the program's current MFA cohort, Constellation Shakespeare Collective. Some of her favorite recent roles include Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (CSC), Clarinda/Lamure/Nicusa in The Sea Voyage (CSC), Olga in Anima (S&P), Jaques/Oliver in As You Like It (S&P), First Queen in The Two Noble Kinsmen (S&P), Silvia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Ithaca Shakespeare Company), Guildenstern in Hamlet (Praxis Stage), and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Company Theatre).
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PETE SHELDON, SORANZO/POGGIO [he/him]
Pete Sheldon is an actor/musician/playwright based in Staunton VA. He earned his MLITT and MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University. His recent credits include Young Scrooge in the ASC'S production of A Christmas Carol. His short plays were performed at Silverline Theatre Exchange, which he also performed in. Other credits include Hoosier Shakespeare, Silk Moth Stage, Bell Witch Fall Festival etc. He's excited for his first Mortal Fool's project and to dive into 'Tis Pity!
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CAMERON TAYLOR, BERGETTO/VASQUES [he/him]
Cameron Taylor (is a professional actor, dramaturg, and educator originally from Lexington, Kentucky. Cameron is a proud graduate of Mary Baldwin University's Shakespeare and Performance program, earning both his MLitt and his MFA in 2022 and 2023 respectively. He is thrilled to be working with Mortal Fools after previously serving as dramaturg for their inaugural production of The Taming of the Shrew. Favorite regional acting credits include Ichabod Crane in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Margalo and others in Stuart Little (Lexington Children's Theatre), Claudius and The Ghost in Hamlet (Warehouse Theatre), Lysander and Peter Quince in Midsummer (Idaho Shakespeare Festival), Hernando DeSoto and others in Unto These Hills (Cherokee Historical Association), and multiple tours with The National Theatre for Children. Cameron has also had the pleasure of directing with the Oconaluftee Little Symphony Society, having directed King John, All's Well That Ends Well, Timon of Athens, and The Revenger's Tragedy. When not in the theatre, Cameron can be found reading an Agatha Christie book, juggling, or watching AEW professional wrestling.
MEGAN PARLETT, FRIAR/PUTTANA/GRIMALDI [she/her]
Megan Parlett is an actor, director, and dramaturg currently located in Staunton, Virginia, and she is delighted to be joining Mortal Fools Collective for this wild play! She will soon be taking the stage as Helen in Constellation Shakespeare Collective’s All’s Well That Ends Well and recently played Bellemante in CSC’s staged reading of Emperor of the Moon. Megan previously directed CSC’s educational production of Macbeth, a staged reading of the new work Very Small Trouble, and a small-scale version of The Winter’s Tale. Special thanks to her Romeo.
JAKE RAITER, DONADO [he/him]
Jake is an actor and teaching artist originally from Portland, OR. He is currently in the latter half of his journey through the MFA program in the Shakespeare and Performance Graduate Program at Mary Baldwin University. He works as an actor and production manager for the current MFA Cohort, Constellation Shakespeare Collective. Recent roles include Leontes/Florizel in The Winter's Tale (CSC), Duncan/Porter in Macbeth (CSC), Mr. Marks in Intimate Apparel (MBU Undergraduate), The Jailer in Two Noble Kinsmen (S&P), Galen Gray in The Anatomy of Gray (Struts and Frets Theatre Company), and Jenkins in Cthulhu: The Musical! (Puppeteers for Fears). www.jakeraiter.com
DYLAN MABE, RICHARDETTO/BANDITTI [he/him]
Dylan Mabe is an Appalachian actor and writer who loves Science Fiction and Shakespeare. Dylan is an alumni and founding member of Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble, where he performed as Speed in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Devil in The Birth of Merlin. More recently, you can find him teaching Shakespeare and Science Fiction classes at James Madison University or writing about Appalachia.
ANDREW STEVEN KNIGHT, PETRUCHIO/LUCENTIO/HORTENSIO/MERCHANT [he/him]
Andrew Steven Knight is a theatre artist and educator from New Hampshire, who has worked as a Professor of Practice in Theatre at Mary Baldwin University since 2023. Since 2021, he has been an acting fellow at the American Shakespeare Center for more than a dozen shows, recently going onstage as an understudy for Edgar in King Lear and Professor Bhaer in Little Women. Other professional credits include Lewis Cass/Doctor in Unto These Hills (Cherokee NC), Orlando in As You Like It and Daphnis in Daphnis and Chloe (Advice to the Players). Andrew’s play The Fall of Thebes premiered at Silver Line Theatre Exchange in Staunton, VA in 2024.
ANNA BIGHAM, STAGE MANAGER [she/her]
Anna Bigham is so excited to be stage managing with Mortal Fools this summer! Recent credits include co-directing a small scale King Lear for Streetlight Shakespeare Ensemble and Assistant Directing Streetlight’s production of Bartholomew Fair. Anna has a B.A. in English from Grove City College and an MLitt and M.F.A. in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University. Anna's weirdest project so far has probably been directing a Jacobean tragicomedy set in space, about which she has no regrets.
MATTHIAS BOLON, INTIMACY CHOREOGRAPHER [he/they]
Matthias is an animated bundle of unintentional humor and strange facts. A few of his favorite intimacy choreographer credits include Twelfth Night (Bucknell University); Bartholomew Fair (Streetlight Shakespeare Ensemble); Troilus and Cressida and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Meadowlark Shakespeare Players); 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche and Barbecue Apocalypse (CU Sandbox Student Series). He earned his BA and MA in Theatre & Performance Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder, and most recently his MFA in Shakespeare & Performance from Mary Baldwin University.