MISF Team
Check out the incredible talent behind the 2025 Mackinac Island Shakespeare Festival!
Amie Root
Director, Comedy of Errors
Amie Root (she/her) is a multifaceted artist. She is a director, playwright, actor, fight director and teacher. Amie is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors and has toured the country teaching and fight directing for the last fifteen years. She recently directed The Mad Ones and Assistant Directed The Garbologists (Western IL Univ.). She has been the Fight Director for Twelfth Night and The Heart of Robin Hood (Door Shakespeare), Hamlet and Henry IV Part I (Utah Shakespeare Festival), She Kills Monsters (Univ. of Southern Miss), five seasons with Unto These Hills (Cherokee, NC) and others. She was a teaching artist for the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington D.C.) for four years. Amie has her BA in drama from the UW Stevens Point and is pursuing her MFA in Directing at Western IL University. www.Amieroot.com
Raphael Emmanuel
Director, Hamlet
Raphael Emmanuel (he/him) is an award-winning director, actor, and educator focused on how social location can impact and enhance performance of western classical theatre. He is a McDermott Visiting Artist Fellow (Mary Baldwin University), Drama League of NY Classical Directing Fellow, and an OSF Killian Directing Fellowship finalist. Directing Credits include: American Shakespeare Center (The Winter’s Tale); Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Emilia [reading]); Elm Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet), Connecticut Repertory Theatre (Pericles), Starling Shakespeare Company (AYLI), Advice to the Players (Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing), Collective Consciousness (Detroit ’67), Northcott Theatre (Measure for Measure, UK); Mary Baldwin University (Bartholomew Fair); Southern CT State U (Julius Caesar, Polaroid Stories, Stop Kiss, Lysistrata), UC Riverside (Dr. Faustus). 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, various), ArtFarm (King Lear, Midsummer), Elysium Theatre Company (UK) (The Henriad/War of the Roses), 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.
Laiah Westlyn
Actor
Laiah Westlyn (she/they) is excited to make her Starling Shakespeare debut! She graduated with her BA in Theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2023. Favorite credits include: Helena (Midsummer), Hakan (Let the Right One In), and Marie-Louise (Cyrano de Bergerac). Laiah would like to extend gratitude to her best friends and family; her car, Sparrow, for taking her to auditions all in many states, and dog, Crumbl, for supporting her during millions of self-tapes.
Rosemary Richards
Actor
Rosemady Richards (she/her) is beyond grateful to be returning for another summer with Starling Shakespeare Company! Rosemary received her BFA in Musical Theatre from William Peace University and holds an MLITT and MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University. Some of her favorite credits include: Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (Wayne Theatre), Ophelia in Hamlet (Richmond Shakespeare), Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble), Malvolio in Twelfth Night (Starling Shakespeare Company), and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (Wayne Theatre). She would like to give a special thanks to her family, friends, S&P Community, and Treehouse Shakespeare Ensemble for their constant inspiration and encouragement. #staybleffed https://www.rosemaryfaithrichards.com
Josh Paine
Actor
Josh Paine (he/him) is thrilled to be going on tour with Starling Shakespeare. He studied theater at both Morehouse College and Illinois Wesleyan University. Some recent credits include The Merchant of Venice (Lorenzo) at South Dakota Shakespeare; The Tempest (Ferdinand/Sebastian) at North Dakota Shakespeare; and Return to Oz (Tin Man) at Jeans Playhouse. When not on stage, Josh loves doing crosswords, playing video games, and listening to audiobooks. He is so grateful and excited to be a part of this journey!
Ethan Goodmansen
Actor
Ethan Goodmansen (he/him) is a classically trained actor and singer with a diverse background in Shakespeare, contemporary and musical theater, and choral performance. He studied Shakespeare & Performance at Mary Baldwin University earning his MFA ('25) and MLitt ('24). He is a non-union, Virginia based artist. In addition to acting and music, Ethan is interested in voice-over, photography, and literature.
Jessie Lillis
Actor
Jessie Lillis (she/her) is a Philadelphia based actor, director, educator, and co-founder of Starling Shakespeare Company. Past roles include Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Olivia/Andrew in Twelfth Night, Troilus in Troilus and Cressida, Face in The Alchemist, Rosalind in As You Like It, and Hal, Hotspur, and Falstaff in three different productions of Henry IV, Part 1. A Coldwater, Michigan native, Jessie is thrilled to be returning to her home state for the fifth annual Mackinac Island Shakespeare Festival.
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 East Texas A&M University. She is thrilled to be back with Starling Shakespeare for a third summer!
Abigail Olshin
Production/Tour Manager
Abigail Olshin (she/her) is a theatre artist and educator originally from Rockville, MD. In the spring of 2025 she will graduate with her MFA in Shakespeare & Performance from Mary Baldwin University, having received her MLitt in Shakespeare & Performance in 2024. She received her undergraduate training at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she majored in Theatre and English, and minored in Arts Leadership.
Katie Mestres
Puppet Design Team
Katie Mestres (she/her) is a recent MFA graduate from the Shakespeare & Performance program at Mary Baldwin University. She found her love of puppets in her final year where she worked with them in every single show. After graduation she is looking forward to going back to her house with her husband and her cats and hopefully doing lots more theater in the future.
Anna Bigham
Puppet Design Team
Anna Bigham (she/her) is so delighted to help bring the puppets of Starling’s 2025 season to life. Recent work includes assistant directing and puppet building for Streetlight Shakespeare Ensemble’s production of Bartholomew Fair, as well as co-directing Streetlight’s production of King Lear. 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. Her weirdest non-puppet related project so far has probably been directing a Jacobean tragicomedy set in space, about which she has no regrets.