SF Shakespeare Festival

Maryssa (she/them) is an actor, director, and educator, with an emphasis on social justice and classical theatre. A long-time Resident Artist at SF Shakes, Wanlass has appeared on the mainstage in multiple shows and taught in nearly every program. Notable roles with SF Shakes include Dionyza in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Jaques in As You Like It, Horatio in Hamlet, and Hermione in Winter's Tale. Other Bay Area stage appearances include CalShakes (As You Like It), San Jose Stage (Persuasion), Livermore Shakespeare Festival (As You Like It, Hamlet, Merry Wives of Windsor), Center REPertory Company (Enchanted April, Witness for the Prosecution), Woman’s Will (Much Ado About Nothing, Good Person of Szechuan). She has directed locally for Utopia Theatre Project, PlayGroundSF, Shotz, and regionally for Advice to the Players. Wanlass' social justice work includes directing at-risk young adults in Shakespeare plays via SF Shakes' Midnight Shakespeare program, and working with Red Ladder Theatre to deliver improv workshops in California's correctional system. As Engagement Director for SF Shakes, they are spearheading a new curriculum that encourages participants to share their own creative storytelling with inspiration from William Shakespeare.

Pratiksha (she/her) fell in love with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival while working on a joint production of the Ramayana. She also serves  the company as production manager. She holds a Bachelors in Electronics Engineering, but her true calling has always been theater; so, she did an intense two-year theater program at Foothill Theater Conservatory. Pratiksha is a production manager, director, actor, light designer and theater teacher. She has worked with San Jose Rep, City lights, NDNU, EnActe Arts, Rungmunch and many other local theater companies. She is thrilled to be part of the team that brings the annual Free Shakespeare program to the Bay Area.

Rebecca (she/her) has been on the staff of the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival since 2002 and Artistic Director since 2012. She holds a BA in English and Theatre from Scripps College and an MFA in performance from U.C. Davis. She has taught and written curriculum at the elementary through college levels. As a director and teaching artist, she has worked locally with Marin Theatre Company, PlayGround, Napa Valley Shakespeare Festival, Pear Theatre, Napa Valley Repertory Theatre, Peninsula Youth Theatre, Los Altos Youth Theatre and Shakespeare At Stinson. Ms. Ennals has directed eight productions for the Festival's Shakespeare On Tour in-school touring program, six productions for the Civic Arts Stage Company program in Pleasanton, and four productions for Free Shakespeare in the Park. She also regularly writes the Festival’s Green Shows and conceived and executed the 2012 pop-up Shakespeare project "30 Days of Free Shakespeare in the Parklet" and the 2017 project “35 Famous Speeches in 35 Famous Places.” She developed a new musical of As You Like It with The Kilbanes and Phil Wong, which was produced in Summer 2019.

Robyn (she/her) was last seen in the 2017 & 2018 Seasons of San Francisco Shakespeare Tour and absolutely loved it! She recently has taken on the role of Engagement Coordinator and looks forward to facilitating new community stories. She also works for the Mountain Play in Marin acting as Community Engagement Coordinator. Favorite Shakespearean roles include Adriana and the Courtesan (Comedy of Errors), Viola (Twelfth Night), Mercutio & Friar (Romeo and Juliet), and Phoebe (As You Like It). Robyn is often acting or directing with the monthly produced SHOTZ SF. She studied with ACT and the Moscow Art Theatre School. robyngrahn.com

Sydney (she/her) is an actor, fight director, teaching artist, and visual artist. She joined the SF Shakes family in 2015 playing Rosalind in the tour of As You Like It. Favorite acting credits include: Laertes Hamlet, SF Shakes; Sally Ride She Persisted the Musical: Bay Area Children’s Theatre; Helena A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Benvolio Romeo and Juliet, Helena Landless Mystery of Edwin Drood Davis Shakespeare Festival; Cassandra Jihad Jones & the Kalashnikov Babes Arabian Shakespeare Festival; Hartford Stage, Berkeley Rep, Mirage Entertainment, The Hampton Theatre Company. Education: BFA Hartt School of Music, Dance, and Theatre, Accademia dell’Arte, Society of American Fight Directors, DAI, SF Clown Conservatory. sydney-schwindt.com

Toby (she/her) oversees all aspects of the Shakespeare Festival's programs. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Chicago, and received her Masters from the University of Chicago Business School in 1997. Prior to joining the Festival in 1998, she served as General Manager for Chicago's Court Theatre. She oversaw their financial growth from a $1.6 million to $2.8 million annual budget, guided the theatre in developing a 5-year strategic plan to become the National Center for Classic Theatre, and managed the ensuing strategic growth of the organization. Prior to her four years with the Court, she worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as Senior Editor and Director of Marketing Communications. Her accomplishments in audience development have been recognized by the Arts Marketing Center of Chicago and the Marshall Fields Foundation. She has served as a management consultant for Chicago Opera Theater, the Piven Theater Workshop, and Roadworks Theater Company, and has served as a panelist for the San Francisco Art Commission's Cultural Equity Initiatives Grant program.