Barbara Zahora joined the OPFT staff as Interim Artistic Director in 2018, and at the beginning of 2019 became the permanent Artistic Director for the company. Barbara directed 2019’s Elizabeth Rex as well as their acclaimed 2017 production of Macbeth. Other Chicago directing credits include Hollow/Wave (Silk Road Rising); Shrewish (Artemisia Theatre); Candida, Hay Fever, Misalliance and “Private Lives (ShawChicago); and several productions with The Shakespeare Project of Chicago, where she served as associate artistic director for eight years.

As an actor she’s appeared on OPFT stages as Penny in You Can’t Take It With You, Maggie in Dancing at Lughnasa and in other performances such as Mrs. Coney, Midwinter’s Tales, and her husband George’s latest work, Christmas Comes But Once a Year. Additional acting credits include American Players Theatre, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Writers’ Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Illinois Theatre Center, ShawChicago, and Shakespeare Project of Chicago. TV and film credits include “Chicago Fire” and “Operator.”

Barbara is currently the co-head of Acting at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College for the Performing Arts (CCPA), and she previously taught at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and North Central College.  She is represented by Paonessa Talent and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.  

     Wallace Craig (she/her) has been an Artistic Associate with Oak Park Festival Theatre since the Fall of 2019. Wallace moved to Chicago in 2018 following her graduation from The University of Cincinnati with a BFA in Stage Management. She has since worked on the OPFT Stage Management teams for African Company Presents Richard III, A Dickens Carol, Elizabeth Rex, The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe: A Love Story, and most recently their Zoom production of Christmas Comes But Once A Year. Other Chicagoland productions include Measure for Measure (Any Other Name Company); The Firestorm, All Childish Things, The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe: A Love Story, and Jeeves Saves The Day (First Folio Theatre).

     Danielle Sanders has been a member of the Chicago live entertainment industry for more than 15 years. During that time she has held positions with numerous organizations, including 13 years as lighting engineer at House of Blues, where favorite artists included BB King and Flogging Molly. For the past sixteen months, Danielle worked in a variety of capacities for Meals on Wheels, helping to ensure that at-risk seniors in the Melrose Park area continued to receive much needed support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Danielle is delighted to be returning to live entertainment with Oak Park Festival Theatre.

Vocal Composer 

     Jennifer Harlee Mitchell She/her- Currently a resident Artist at Rosewood Music Theatre in Wisconsin, Jen is a composer, singer/songwriter, and performer. She graduated from the Chicago College of Performing Arts, as a Musical Theatre Major, quickly finding her niche in traveling the country acting, performing as a vocalist/pianist onstage, and writing music offstage. She was Music Director and Composer for Ovidian Myths (Dir. Barbara Zahora) and is now currently writing music, and performing as a vocalist, for upcoming shows at Rosewood. Follow the fun @jenniferharleemitchell or www.jenniferharleemitchell.com

Scenic Design

    Ryan Fox is a theatrical designer based in Rockford, IL, where he is an Assistant Professor of Lighting and Scenic Design at Rockford University.  He hails from Waco, Texas, and holds a MFA in Scenic Design from the University of Maryland, College Park. He graduated from the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, OK with a B.A. in Theatre. His work has been seen in Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Michigan, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and into the digital realm. ryanfoxdesign.com<http://ryanfoxdesign.com/>

   Mark Lancaster has been working both on stage and behind the scenes with Oak Park Festival Theatre since 2017. He has been seen in OPFT’s Macbeth, The Fair Maid of the West, and A Dickens Carol. He has choreographed fights and/or intimacy for You Can’t Take It With You, The African Company Presents: Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, and Elizabeth Rex. You can see him on stage this fall when Paramount Theatre mounts the regional premiere of Kinky Boots.

Dance/Movement Choreographer     

     Erica Bittner is thrilled to return to OPFT where she previously managed choreography and movement for A Dickens Carol. Her physical direction has been seen in multiple Redmoon productions and installations, at Links Hall, and in several productions at the Organic Theater Company. Erica’s long background in dance, physical theatre, and devised work has taken her to both coasts and abroad to Japan, China, and the UK. Erica is also an actor whose credits include productions with Windy City Playhouse, Theatre Wit, Cardinal Stage Company, Drury Lane, First Folio Theatre, Redmoon, Oracle Theatre, Piven Theatre, Music Theater Works, Victory Gardens, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Her television credits include Soundtrack (Netflix), The Chi (Showtime), Chicago Fire (NBC), and American Greed (CNBC). Finally, Erica is an OPFT Artistic Associate where she has performed in more than ten productions and readings. She is represented by Gray Talent Group.

      Jeremy Eisen (he/him) is thrilled to be returning to his hometown of Chicago to join OPFT as the Production Manager for The Tempest and The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe: A Love Story. He most recently spent 22 seasons as a Stage Manager at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and worked on two independent films (as Health & Safety Supervisor and Assistant Director) and a national car commercial (as the COVID Compliance Officer) in Southern Oregon during the past year. He has been a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association for over 20 years.

Original Music & Sound Design   

George Zahora is slightly worried that he might have forgotten how to do this in-person theatre stuff, but is relieved not to have to create any virtual backgrounds for The Tempest. You’ve heard his music and sound thingies in numerous OPFT shows (Macbeth, You Can’t Take it With You, The African Company Presents Richard III, I and You, Elizabeth Rex, Much Ado About Nothing and summer 2020’s abortive world premiere of ‘Waiting for Godot 2: The Arrival’), and possibly also in almost every Shakespeare Project of Chicago reading since 2011. He has also worked with the much-missed ShawChicago and its successor, Misalliance Repertory, whose free, downloadable audio production of Shaw’s ‘The Music Cure’ he engineered earlier this year. He’s also a playwright; his holiday romp ‘Christmas Comes But Once A Year’ was OPFT’s 2020 festive Zoom offering, and his meta-farce ‘Sex in the Title’ is awaiting its next revival in a new, gender-bent variation. George would like to remind audiences that tonight’s production of ‘The Tempest’ includes many pieces of music and sound effects that are audible only to people who’ve had a COVID-19 vaccine. If that isn’t you, please come back again after you’ve been vaccinated and hear what you’re missing!

     Rachel Sypniewski is thrilled to be returning to OPFT for this new adventure, previously designing, “You Can’t Take It

     Ethan P. Gasbarro is very excited to be working with OPFT for the first time! Additionally, he serves as the Technical Director of Stage Center Theatre at Northeastern Illinois University. He is a graduate from Valparaiso University with a BS in Mathematics and Secondary Education. As an independent scenic carpenter, Ethan has built scenery for many Chicagoland companies including: The House Theatre, The Second City, Writer’s Theatre, Windy City Playhouse, Porchlight Music Theatre, and Music Theatre Works, in addition to Salon Des Artistes, Snakes and Lattes, the 2019 EA Sports Chicago Bears NFL Kickoff Experience, and Masterchef. As an ensemble member of The Impostors Theatre Company, he is also a scenic designer. Design credits for The Impostors include: Summer and Smoke, Tippy: Stories from the River, Caged: An Allegory (Nominated for 2019 Broadwayworld Chicago Best Non-Equity Scenic Design), and The Wood. He has also designed and built sets for productions in Northwest Indiana including: Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Sylvia, and Slaughter City (Winner of the 2017 Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas top prize for design at the Reg. 3 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival). He’d like to thank his family—Lori, Dan, and Mitch—and his partner Rachel Borgo for their support. Feel free to check out his work: ethangasbarro.wixsite.com/theatre.

     Liz Cooper is happy to be working with Oak Park Festival Theatre. Some of her favorite lighting design credits include Drag Seed  (Hell in a Handbag), Ghost Quartet, Evil Dead, Nightmares and Nightcaps, and Nevermore (Black Button Eyes), Blackbird (Blank Theatre Company), Prometheus Bound, London Assurance (City Lit),  Marisol (Promethean). She is a resident lighting designer at City Lit.

 Props Head

     Madison Young is delighted to work with OPFT for the first time! Recent credits include “The Prozorovs” and “A Twelfth Night Murder” at Ball State’s School of Theatre and Dance. Madison is currently a rising sophomore at Ball State University for Theatre Design and Technology, with an emphasis in props and scenic painting. When not backstage, Madison can be found baking concerning amounts of bread and learning watercolor painting.