Door Shakespeare Announces 2023 Production Team

Door Shakespeare has announced the production team for the 2023 season. Directors Scott McKenna Campbell and Leda Hoffmann return for their sixth and fourth respective seasons. Music Director Karen Mal, Intimacy Director Christopher Elst, Fight and Movement Director Dan Klarer, Lighting Designer Todd Mion, Production Stage Manager Kira Neighbors, and Properties and Set Designer Jody Sekas have a combined 32 year history with Door Shakespeare. This will be Costume Designer Mary McMullen's first season with the company.

"It has been a joy to gather the talented theatre professionals that make up Door Shakespeare's production team for our 2023 season," shares Producing Artistic Director Amy Ensign. "I can't wait for them to arrive in Door County to begin in-person work on the wonderful stories that make up our 28th year here in Baileys Harbor!"
The production team is the driving force behind the artistic development of the season, which includes two shows running in alternating repertory: William Shakespeare's "As You Like It," and "The Old Man and The Old Moon," with book, music, and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Company.

Dr. Scott McKenna Campbell makes his Directing debut with "The Old Man and The Old Moon." Campbell has designed, taught, and performed with Door Shakespeare since its 2017 season in roles including Feste (Twelfth Night) and Planchet (Three Musketeers). He enjoys an ongoing Actor-Manager role with the Ohio Shakespeare Festival where he has composed music and lyrics for multiple new works including their recent Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2022). More than 100 of his songs have appeared on professional stages across the country. Scott earned a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.Litt degree in Shakespeare & Performance through the American Shakespeare Center/Mary Baldwin University partnership, and an MA in Arts & Creative Enterprise Leadership through the Bolz Center in the Wisconsin School of Business. Offstage, he lectures at the UW-Madison in dramatic literature, theatre, and written composition. He is the principal songwriter for folk band The Rude Sea, and a performer/interpreter of traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, England, and Scandinavia. Find him at ScottMcKennaCampbell.com

Leda Hoffmann returns for her fourth season to direct William Shakespeare's "As You Like It." Hoffmann's work as a director has been seen across the country at Milwaukee Rep, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, First Folio, The Alchemist Theatre, Max and Louie Productions, Riverside Theater Iowa City, and Luminous Theatre, among others. At Door Shakespeare she has directed The Comedy of Errors (2018, 2014), The Tempest (2015), and Romeo and Juliet (2015). Leda is the Artistic Director of the Contemporary American Theatre Company (CATCO) in Columbus, Ohio, where her directing credits include An Iliad, Mr Burns: a post-electric play, Head Over Heels, INDECENT, and 9 to 5 the Musical. www.ledahoffmann.com

A member of several national theater organizations (Certified Teacher, Society of American Fight Directors; Associate Instructor, Dueling Arts International; Intimacy Director in training, Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, et al) and an advocate for safe practices in theaters nationwide, Intimacy Director Christopher Elst has performed, directed, and designed violence, movement, and intimacy for professional theaters across the country, including Ogunquit Playhouse, First Stage Children's Theatre, Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival (now The REV), Next Act Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theatre Works, Skylight Music Theatre, Peninsula Players, Northern Sky, and The Milwaukee Rep. This is his second season with Door Shakespeare.

Dan Klarer (Fight and Movement Director) is a professional theater artist living in Door County and works as an actor, fight director, stage manager, and costume designer. He has performed these jobs and more for theater companies around the Midwest including: Third Avenue PlayWorks, Peninsula Players, Northern Sky Theatre, Door Shakespeare, First Folio Theatre, Artists' Ensemble, Theatre at the Center, Children's Theatre Madison, Madison Ballet, Chicago Kids Company, and The Goodman Theatre. Dan has taught stage combat and worked at a variety of sanctioned workshops through the Society of American Fight Directors and Dueling Arts International. He has choreographed and directed stage violence for all four professional theaters in Door County and has taught combat at several schools across the country including: Pace University, Adelphi University, Western Illinois University, and UW-Green Bay. Dan received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama from UW-Stevens Point and his Master of Arts degree in Acting from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.

Music Director for "The Old Man and The Old Moon," Karen Mal appeared in the very first Door Shakespeare production ever, as Helena in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," back before the company had its own venue. She went on to compose and direct music for the company for 10 years. She is also a veteran of the Northern Sky Theater stage, where she both originated roles and directed music from the stage and from the pit. She and her daughter Coralina live in Austin, Texas, where Karen works at Austin Scottish Rite Theater as an actor, music director, and sound designer. Karen is also a multi-instrumentalist and award-winning songwriter, and just released a brand-new album of original songs with her musical partner David Stoddard.

Costume Designer Mary Yaw McMullen is thrilled to be costume designing at Door Shakespeare for the first time. Mary is an Ohio native, and received her B.A. and M.F.A. from The Ohio State University Department of Theatre. She has been working as a freelance costume designer for the last 19 years in and out of Ohio. Mary also directs high school musical theatre at River View High School in Warsaw, OH. She thanks her husband, Kyle, and children, Cora & Brek, for their patience, love, and support.

Lighting Designer Todd Mion has been a lighting designer in the Baltimore area for over thirty-five years. Recent designs include the world premieres of Mother May I at the Strand Theater, Bad Panda with Iron Crow Theatre, To Get to the Other Side for The Baltimore Playwright's Festival, The Return of the Fifth Sister at the Capital Fringe Festival, as well as dance designs seen at The Kennedy Center In Washington, D.C., The Alvin Ailey Theatre in New York City, The Greenhouse Theatre in Chicago, and internationally at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. Todd also designed for the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival where his work included the critically acclaimed A Dickens of a Carol as well as productions of Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.

Production Stage Manager Kira Neighbors is delighted to be back at Door Shakespeare for the 2023 season! Wisconsin stage management credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry V, and Hamlet (Door Shakespeare); The Wanderers (Forward Theater); Dino!, The Nativity Variations, Murder on the Orient Express, Antonio's Song, The Legend of Georgia McBride, The Nerd, Every Brilliant Thing, Rep Lab, A Christmas Carol, and Guards at the Taj (Milwaukee Rep); The Island and The Thanksgiving Play (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre). Select South Carolina credits include Outlaw Song, She Kills Monsters, and Our Town (Theatre South Carolina). Kira studied Stage Management at the University of South Carolina. https://doorshakespeare.com/cast-member/jody-sekas/
Amy Ensign began her career with Door Shakespeare 15 years ago, as Elmire inTartuffe, and Ceres in The Tempest. Last seen as Mistress Page in 2019's The Merry Wives of Windsor, other Door Shakespeare credits include Portia (The Merchant of Venice), Julia (The Rivals), Jane (Pride and Prejudice), and Rosalind (2012's As You Like It). A Door County-based actor, director, and theater educator, Amy has performed with Northern Sky Theater, Theatre M, Teatro Caravaggio, Third Avenue PlayWorks, and Peninsula Players Theatre; and directed youth theater programs for Sevastopol School, Third Avenue PlayWorks, and right here at Door Shakespeare. Amy holds a Bachelor of Arts in theater from the University of Washington and studied with the Suzuki Company of Toga-Mura in Japan. A voyaging sailor and underwater hockey player, Amy lives in Sturgeon Bay with her husband and son.

The 2023 Summer season begins June 28 and runs through August 26, with "As You Like It" presented on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30, and Saturdays at 5:00. "The Old Man and The Old Moon" runs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 7:30. Managing Director Elissa Wolf praises the production team, saying "come see this wonderful group of collaborators who will highlight the nuances of each production." Tickets and more at doorshakespeare.com.

Door Shakespeare was founded in 1995 under the umbrella of then-named American Folklore Theatre in collaboration with Blue Circle Theatre. Since becoming its own nonprofit in 1999, Door Shakespeare has produced 44 Productions in the Garden of Björklunden's 405-acre estate in Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin. Door Shakespeare is a professional theatre company employing members of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

Photo Credit: Heidi Hodges

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