About Love, Shakespeare
“Thoroughly entertaining. The performance was endlessly funny, tightly drawn, and well executed. The talented cast was at the top of their game — warm, playful, and full of surprises.” — Tony C.
About the Show
An Improvised Elizabethan Comedy
Initially created in 2019 under the direction of Kristen Schier, Love, Shakespeare is – appropriately – a play within a play. The show follows a “merry group” of Shakespeare’s friends (played by a cast of Portland improvisers listed below!), lovingly entrusted with some of his “uncompleted” works. At each performance, the troupe (with the help of a few audience suggestions) attempts one of these “drafted tales,” often remembering, reworking, and reimagining on the fly. The resulting 90-minute show is full of delightful surprises, top-notch wordplay, and ridiculous moments that would make the Bard himself laugh out loud.
This show premiered at Curious Comedy Theater and ran from 2019-2023, and now, since 2024, can be seen touring around the great city of Portland, and at comedy festivals across the country.
DO I NEED TO Like SHAKESPEARE TO ENJOY THE SHOW?
Not at all! While Shakespeare fans will relish the nods to the Bard's themes, this is a show for fans of comedy. Love, Shakespeare invites everyone to join in the revelry!
“Honestly, I was a bit intimidated by the ‘Shakespeare’ label, but this show is so fun and so enchanting! A must-see.”
“Love, Shakespeare brings an infectious playfulness on stage. By the time you add in a beautiful set, fun costumes, and unexpected props... you'll be drowning in charm.”
— Eric Simons, Broke Gravy
Meet the Cast
Rose Bonomo
Rose is honored and grateful to be part of this delightful production. She is a company member of Original Practice Shakespeare Festival and an alumna of The Actor Training Center at Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox, MA. She recently directed Death By Hanging: A Comedy by Craig McCarthy, played Kimberly in Kimberly Akimbo and Betty in The Theatre Company’s production of California. She loves to cook for friends and play on the trapeze.
Andy Perkins
Originally from Kansas City, MO, Andy has felt right at home in Portland! Previously he has weaseled his way into numerous Shakespeare productions including Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, As You Like It, Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale and locally he has worked at Portland Center Stage in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
When not performing, he enjoys teaching, playing board games, and eating good food with good friends!
Tyler Quinn
A lifelong Shakespeare nerd with decades of improv under his belt, Tyler is thrilled to have been part of Love, Shakespeare since its inception. As a designer and visual artist, he leads the visual and production design of the show. Tyler is a new father (to a little goofball appropriately named Thisbe), which means he’s performing less frequently than he used to. But you still might catch him improvising around town with the Siren Theater’s Giants of Improv or his almost-too-intimate duo team, Pillow Talk. He owes it all to his clown family, his wife Willa, and the Sister Act films.
Rachel Rosenthal
Rachel is an improv veteran with over 23 years under her belt. Once called a “charismatic improv whirlwind” by The Huffington Post, Rachel tours nationally with her improv duo, Sam & Rachel Comedy, and internationally with both Hip Hop Improv group, North Coast, and with free-form team, Big Bang. She performed in David Byrne’s This is How Music Works (Town Hall, NYC), in Blank! The Musical (Off Broadway, NYC) and is honored to be a part of Portland’s Love, Shakespeare cast. Rachel is a writer and storyteller who has appeared on several podcasts. Her story, "Identity Thief" has been featured on “This American Life” and “Risk!”, and was published by Amazon as a short story. Rachel is an improv instructor who has taught workshops all over the world and specializes in improv for businesses, and musical improv for performers. She’d love it if you listened to her podcast Sam & Rachel’s Generation Gap! More at theraeroshow.com or on social media at @raeroshow.
Kristen Schier
Kristen Schier is an actor, improviser, teacher, and clown. She has extensive improv teaching, directing, and performing experience. She holds a BFA in Theater Arts from the University of the Arts where she also taught Acting for Non-Majors, Improvisation for the Actor, and first-year Acting Studio. She has toured all over the country teaching and performing at various festivals such as the Seattle Festival of Improvised Theater, Chicago Improv Festival, Vancouver International Improv Festival, Boom Chicago Comedy Festival in Amsterdam, and more. Kristen is the former Co-Artistic Director of Curious Comedy in Portland Oregon and former Improv Producer at the Philly Improv Theater. She has studied improv at Second City, Magnet Theater, and Annoyance. Kristen has also studied Physical Theater, clown, extensively with Giovanni Fusetti, Virginia Scott, Pig Iron Theater company and Movement Theater Studio.
Peri Ahmadi
Peri experienced an awakening in 9th grade when Romeo + Juliet came out. Being both obsessed with Leonardo DiCaprio and being a goody two shoes who wanted to ace her English class, she went all in on all things Shakespeare. Much later in life, she discovered a new love: Improv. She has performed for several years on different ensembles, and was finally able to marry her interest in Shakespeare with her love of improv in joining the cast of Love, Shakespeare.
Jake Hull
Jake Hull is a composer for film, theater, and video games, as well as being a multi-instrumentalist and improviser. Some of the first commissions Hull composed were for live re-tellings of classic works with the Virginia Stage Company. There he wrote and performed live scores/musicals for The Tempest, Oliver Twist, and Streetcar Named Desire. His love of Shakespeare goes back to his years in music school when he saw an audition notice for a banjo player to join a Civil War-set Romeo and Juliet - he didn't play banjo. But he learned it that day and the next day got the part and began fallin in love with Shakespeare's characters and influential works. As an improviser he's been studying and performing since 2017 and has studied under Carla Cackowski, writing and performing sketch in the show MAD DASH, performed as part of the musical long form duo Band Practice, and joined the cast of Love, Shakespeare in 2019. He would love to talk to you after the show about Elizabethan food, modern cocktails, or premier league football.
Production
Verily, these folk make dreams come to pass.
Director
Kristen Schier
Producer
Rose Bonomo
Design
Tyler Quinn
Anne Jones
Technical Production
Anne is delighted to be running tech for Love, Shakespeare. She began doing tech in improv not long after she began improvising, when she realized how much a well-timed blackout or cue can add to the theatricality and fun of the show. When not running tech, Anne enjoys performing improv, playing board games, and cheering on the Thorns.
Come Wander With Us
Join the email list to find out about upcoming shows & events.