CYMBELINE - Opens July 4, 2025
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Glenn Havlan and Gaby Schneider
Friday July 4, Saturdays and Sundays July 5 - 20, 4PM
John Hinkel Park Amphitheater
Reservations | Photos | Program | Directions
Cymbeline is a dark fairy tale of love and loss, loyalty and betrayal, grief and survival, with multiple interwoven story lines that all converge in a final scene of forgiveness, reconciliation, and hope. It is a strange loop—a Mobius Strip on which two separated lovers travel at different speeds until they meet again, always moving forward yet returning to where they began.
William Shakespeare's epic romance, CYMBELINE, adapted and directed by Glenn Havlan and Gaby Schneider, presented by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley free-of-charge in the John Hinkel Park Amphitheater, weekends + holidays July 4th - July 20th at 4 p.m.
The beautiful Imogene, daughter of the torn Celtic British King Cymbeline and in love with Posthumus, now banished to Italy, must survive the plots of the treacherous Queen and her dastardly son Cloten, along with the interference of the meddling Romans and court intrigue, in order to save her love and the kingdom.
As one of Shakespeare’s lesser known works, this play will feel totally fresh even to many long-time Shakespeare fans, while still being easy for newer audience members to follow. The characters are largely archetypal, with personalities and motives that are immediately clear, yet they reveal greater depth and complexity as they develop over the course of the story.
CYMBELINE has something for everyone. If you’re a romantic who loves stories about childhood sweethearts defying their disapproving parents, lovers separated by tyranny and reunited by perseverance, and long-lost family members discovering each other by chance, this play is for you. If you’re a history nerd obsessed with the Roman Empire and/or the Celts, this play is for you. If you’re a feminist who wants to see men learning to treat women better, this play is definitely for you. If you want to see a thoroughly awful villain get a satisfying smackdown, this play is for you, and if you want to see a charming trickster villain go through real moral growth and feel remorse, this play is for you, too! It’s got journeys across the picturesque countryside, attempted witchcraft, mistaken identity, a severed head, and more. And it has the most principled, steadfast, and courageous heroine in all of Shakespeare.
Amphitheater Seating / Reservations
The amphitheater consists of a series of stone terraces. The performance is open to the public and free. A few weeks before the play opens we will make available the ability to reserve locations (at no charge) in the first row (one step above ground level) specifically for folks with limited mobility or hearing issues, and spots at ground level for wheelchair users and their companions. Seating Picture| Reservations | Directions
CAST
Al Badger (Philario / Belarius) is honored to return to Actors Ensemble for the first time since 2012's Arcadia. In what time remains after yarn crafting and feral cat maintenance, he has performed many times with San Francisco's Generation Theater, most notably as Escartefigue in Marcel Pagnol's Marseille Trilogy. His IMDB listing has two entries, only one of which is an X-rated hand-puppet movie.
Marc Berman (Cornelius / gaoler) is honored to join Actors Ensemble for the second time. After being in Sacramento for a decade, Marc moved back to the bay area and took the theater world by storm. Performing in over 30 shows in the past decade, the roles have been strewn across the spectrum. Marc owns his own make-up design company (Seduction Make-up). He wishes to thank his consort Lisa, stepson Aidan and son Xander for their constant support.
Patrice Binaisa (1st Lord / Sicilius) is a Berkeley-based Ugandan-American actor, making his second foray into the world of Shakespeare. Patrice is dedicating his performance to his sister Lillian Binaisa.
Dominic Canty (Posthumus) is making his Actors Ensemble debut in Cymbeline. Later this summer you will also see him as Petruchio in AE's The Taming of the Shrew. Some recent credits include the role of MacDufff in Macbeth and Peter in Peter and the Starcatcher, both at The College of Marin.
Ryan Chu's (Second Lord / Arviragus) is delighted to collaborate with AE again as he takes his first foray into the lofty task of realizing the eminent Bard’s work. Outside of the theater, you can find him rereading the books of Brandon Sanderson, picking up and putting down heavy things at the gym, or cooing at and trying to adopt stray cats from his neighborhood. He thanks his parents and friends for their support, and YOU for supporting live theater!
Alexandra Fry (Imogen) Favorite shows include Our Town, The Children’s Hour (Ross Valley Players), Gypsy, Camelot (Mountain Play), and Romeo and Juliet (Curtain). She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Anthropology from Sonoma State University. She would like to thank Glenn and Gaby for giving her this opportunity as it is her dream role in her favorite Shakespeare play. For all the Imogens out there, who learn their own strength when their world is turned upside down.
Mark Goldman (Cymbeline) is very happy to perform for you in this his third AE production. Mark has shared his love for Shakespeare's works in productions by Reed College theater, Marin Shakespeare festival, the Live Oak Theater, the San Francisco Free CIvic Theater and the wonderfully Bard-centric Theater of Others. Enacting Cymbeline will be his fifth foray into Shakespearean royalty. Happily retired from a long career in Biotechnology, Mark also enjoys travel, stringed instruments and learning new languages.
Emi Hegarty (Frenchman / Guiderius) recently graduated from Duke University where she majored in Biology and Theater Studies, and is excited to be back on the West Coast. When not acting, she enjoys rock climbing and working on stage combat. She most recently performed in Eurydice (Eurydice) and Twelfth Night (Viola/Fight Captain). This is Emi’s first production with the Actors Ensemble, and she is thrilled for the opportunity to work with everyone.
Kenneth Matis (Clotin) is excited to be performing in his second production for Actors Ensemble after performing in the title role AE's production of Fortrinbras, Previously, he's had roles throughout the Bay Area from Marin to Half Moon Bay. Some recent roles include Oswald in Berkeley Shake's King Lear, the lead role of Simon Bright in San Leandro Player's The Games Afoot, and Benedick in Orinda Starlight Player’s Much Ado About Nothing. He’s very exciting to perform at John Hinkle Park, the birthplace for his love of Shakespeare.
Virgie Poole (Lady Helen / Soothsayer) discovered a passion for musical theater before she could walk. Though a longtime lover of acting and performing, she took a distinctly long hiatus in the pursuit of science. She recently performed with AE as Margaret in last summer's Much Ado About Nothing. Hopefully, you'll be seeing even more of her.
Michele Sanner Vargas (Queen) is excited to join AE for the second year after having had the pleasure of working with Gaby and Glenn in Much Ado About Nothing last summer. When not acting, she can be found teaching Chemistry and annoying her sons with show tunes.
Stanley Spenger (Pisanio) has been treading the AE boards for four decades since 1985’s Ah! Wilderness, most recently appearing in last year's show The Imaginary Invalid. Along the way, he became the founder of Subterranean Cabaret Theater and Subterranean Shakespeare, and was among the early founding members of Shotgun Players. He’s appeared in Shakespeare productions all over the Bay Area, where he continues his long, occasionally ridiculous, always passionate love affair with the Bard.
Jeff Trescott (Caius Lucius / Jupiter) has worked in many plays, both as an actor and backstage. Most recently he was in Much Ado About Nothing and Kudzu 2012 with AE and The White Card in Pinole. He has a BA in Mathematics from Harvard and is AE's treasurer.
Jean-Paul Demitri Zuhur (Iachimo) is a stage, film, television and voiceover actor. He moved back to Berkeley in 2023 after a long couple decades away. Some of his most recent roles include Balthasar in Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar in Julius Caesar and Florizel in The Winter’s Tale. You may have caught him last summer as the im-peck-able Claude D'Aria in AE's The Imaginary Invalid directed by Jay Manley. He would like to thank Glenn and Actors Ensemble for casting him in his first Shakespeare since he moved back to Berkeley.
PRODUCTION
Jerome Solberg, Producer | Jerome has been producing shows for Actors Ensemble since 2005. And is on the Actors Ensemble board of directors.
Glenn Havlan, Director | Glenn returns to Actors Ensemble after appearing in "Mothers All" in 2022 and adapting and directing their "Much Ado About Nothing" at Hinkel in July of 2024. Previously with AE, he played Peter Stockmann in "An Enemy of the People". He most recently performed this past February, in Hillbarn Theatre's production of "Daisy". The last four summers with the Curtain Theatre in Mill Valley, he appeared as Nick Bottom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Friar Laurence in "Romeo and Juliet", The Duke of Milan in "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" and Sir Toby Belch in "Twelfth Night". He acted in nine shows with the Marin Shakespeare Company and played Jaques in their 25th Anniversary production of As You Like It. Glenn has performed in and/or directed forty productions of twenty different Shakespeare plays. He founded two San Francisco companies, the Free Civic Theater and the Theater of Others, staging fifty productions from 2000-2019.
Gaby Schneider, Director | Gaby returns to AE after having co-adapted and directed our production of "Much Ado About Nothing" at Hinkel in July of 2024. Gaby has been studying and performing Shakespeare since childhood. She was a core company member of Theater of Others founded by Glenn. She has worked at various theaters around the Bay Area, including Marin Shakespeare, Marin Theatre Company, and Playwrights Foundation (where she is now a board member). When not on stage, she works as a staff attorney at Bay Area Legal Aid.
Costumes by Lyre Alston (he/him/she/her) | Lyreis a designer working in and around the bay area in both Costume design and Wig/Makeup design/artistry. Some recent shows include Hadestown with Throckmorton Theatre, Daisy with Hillbarn Theatre, Peter Panto at Presidio Theatre, and Much Ado About Nothing and The Imaginary Invalid with AE last summer.
Stage Management by Jose Garcia | Jose is glad to be back with Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. He has worked on stage and behind the stage many times. He previously worked as an actor at the San Francisco Dungeon and is currently working as a standardized patient at UCSF. He enjoys salsa dancing and taking long hikes.
Set design by Kirsten Yamaguchi | This is the fourth AE production Kirsten has designed after Much Ado About Nothing, The Imaginary Invalid, and Death of a Salesman. In addition to set design, Kirsten Yamaguchi has designed many theater programs and posters, taught theater design and animation, and worked as an animator on feature films, games and more. As a youth in Los Angeles, Kirsten performed on stage in many musicals and with choirs. https://www.yamaguchianimation.com/
Props by Susan Dunn | Susan is thrilled to work props once again at AEB Productions at her favorite outdoor venue, John Hinkel Park. — A Shakespeare play with emotional and character twists and turns, and fine actors to bring them to life. Susan is a devotee of all things theater: she has worked Theater Boards at 5 local theaters, had a stint as president of Altarena Playhouse, been a theater critic at SFBATCC and TBA and also contributes to Bay Area Theatre by continuing one of her most valuable roles theater Audience. She attends theater and opera in all parts of the Bay Area. Read her reviews on Theatrius.com., For All Events, Aisle Seat Review and Reviews Bay Area. Thanks again to AEB for this chance to contribute to Cymbeline.
Construction Assistance by Aurora Duncan | Aurora Duncan (she/her) is volunteering for the first time in the theatre world. She was a part of her high school drama club, participating in both performance and technical roles. In her free time, Aurora likes to play video games and crochet.
CYMBELINE
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Glenn Havlan and Gaby Schneider
produced by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley
4 p.m. Saturday/Sunday July 5th - July 20th plus Friday, July 4th.
John Hinkel Park Amphitheatre
41 Somerset Pl., Berkeley, CA 94707.
Performances are Free of Charge
www.aeofberkeley.org
Actors Ensemble
P.O. Box 663
Berkeley, CA 94701
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.aeofberkeley.org
A 501(3)(c) organization
