PENELOPIAD

:: Amy Fritsche* :: (Penelope) is thrilled to be working at Ensemble Theatre. She toured nationally with Annie and internationally in the World Premier of Best Intentions in London, England and at the Edinburgh Festival. She performed in the World Premier of These Mortal Hosts at the Cleveland Play House. Regionally, she has worked with Cleveland Playhouse, Phoenix Theater, Lyric Theater of Oklahoma, Porthouse Theatre, and Dobama Theatre. Favorite roles include, The Diary of Anne Frank (Meip), A Little Night Music (Countess Charlotte), 9to5 (Violet), Annie (Grace Farrell), Ring of Fire (Trenna), Next to Normal (Diana) and Violet (Violet). She received the 2015 & 2018 Cleveland Critics Circle Theater Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She is a proud member of SAG/AFTRA, AGVA, and AEA. Amy is an Associate Professor and the Acting Area Coordinator at Kent State University.

:: Sarah Blubaugh :: (Melantho, Sparta/Ithacan Maid, Maid) is grateful to be back on stage at Ensemble Theatre for The Penelopiad. She was last seen at Ensemble in The Way I Danced With You and East of Eden. A recent graduate of Cleveland State University, she has been seen on stage at several theaters in the Cleveland area, including Blank Canvas Theatre, Workshop Players Theatre, and Cleveland Shakespeare Festival. She is also excited to be starting her new role at Ensemble as Assistant to the Executive Artistic Director. Some favorite acting credits include: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Dani in The Way I Danced With You, and Kate Monster in Avenue Q. She would like to thank her family and friends for their constant support, and you for supporting local theatre.]

:: Julia Fisher :: (Eurycleia, Maid) is an actor, playwright, teacher, and director, and is ecstatic to join the talented cast of The Penelopiad in her first show at Ensemble. Most recent roles include Purity in “Soror Mystica” at Cleveland Public Theatre’s Pandemonium, the front legs of a giraffe in Creatures by Roger Titley at BorderLight International Theatre Festival, various characters in a staged reading of Cabin Crush at Cleveland Play House, and Princess September in The Princess and the Nightingale at Talespinner Children’s Theatre. Julia has trained with Cleveland Play House, Intimacy Directors International, the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, and Movement and Combat Education. She is a member of the Young Playwrights Collective through Playwrights Local, where she recently presented a workshop production of Tatterhood, a new musical for which she wrote the book and lyrics. As a theatre teacher at Saint Martin de Porres High School, Julia co-directed ten productions of the Saint Martin Drama Club, and twelve of her students have been honored at the Marilyn Bianchi Kids Playwriting Festival through Dobama Theatre. She sends endless thanks to the company of this show, to her incredible family, to her exceptional friends and Art Monster sisters, and to Joe, always.

:: Diane Frankhauser :: (Helen, Kerthia, Maid) is excited to be making her debut performance with Ensemble Theater in The Penelopiad! Recent credits include Yankee Tavern and The Late Henry Moss at none too fragile and The Comedy of Errors, Three Musketeers and Robin Hood: An Adventure with Music at Ohio Shakespeare Festival. She is a recent recipient of the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2019 48 Hour Film Festival for her work in Being John McClane. She is a proud Wright State University alumna and has toured with The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in their Next Stage Ensemble Tour of Twelfth Night. When not on-stage you will usually find her at the Houde School of Acting.  You will see her later this season in Intimate Apparel and Kindertransport. Special thanks to her parents, many teachers, The Talent Group, Heyman Talent, and Matthew.

:: Marina Gordon :: (Naiad Mother/Maid) is happy to make her Ensemble Theatre debut! She comes to Ohio by way of Ukraine, Israel and New York. She was recently seen as the Nurse in the Rubber City Theatre’s production of Romeo & Juliet. Her NY credits include Enemies: A Love Story, The Marriage Contract and Jewish Bliss. Since moving to the Cleveland area she appeared in The Comedy of Errors (Akron U), The Diary of Anne Frank (Magical Theatre Company), The Rainbow Serpent (Talespinner Children’s Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Rubber City Theatre), The 2019 NeoMFA Playwrights Festival (Convergence-Continuum) among many others. Her work also includes film, commercials and voiceovers. She thanks her husband and daughter for their support.

:: Maya Jones :: (Anticlea, Suitor 1, Maid)is an actor, writer, activist hailing from the Cleveland area. She is excited to work with Ensemble again where she was last seen in Well. Her time as an actor since graduating Allegheny College has been a tidlewave of learning and growing. She is proud to join this cast of women. Thanks for supporting the theatre.

:: Inés Joris :: (Spartan Maid 2, Ithican Maid 1, Klytie, Maid)I is super happy to come back to Ensemble Theatre after last year’s adventure with Water by the Spoonful (Odessa). A graduate of DRAMA STUDIO LONDON has worked in theater, film, TV, commercials and voice over work in Europe and U.S. Cleveland credits include Angels in America, Part One and Two (Angel) at Ensemble Theatre, Bonnie & Clyde (Governor Ferguson) at French Creek Theatre, Vagina Monologues at The Brecksville Theatre and City of Angels (Margie) at Beck Center. She directed America Yo Soy for TPC and La Cueva de Salamanca for LatinUs Theater Company. She’s a Drama Instructor at Beck Center for the Arts and at CPH Theatre Academy. She is also a Teaching Artist for the CPH CARE Program at Almira Academy. She is thrilled of being part of the Ensemble Theatre Family in this awesome production and is looking forward to new creative and exciting adventures! She would like to thank her husband Ulises and her son Gabriel for their constant support in all her creative endeavors.

:: Grace Mitri :: (Laertes, Suitor 3, Maid) couldn’t be happier that her first show at Ensemble Theatre is one where she can work alongside a group of powerful women! Grace holds a BA in Theatre Arts/Acting from Case Western Reserve University, and went on to continue her acting studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, as well as the Maggie Flanigan Studio in NYC. Recent credits include: Henry V (Bardolph/Gower) with the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, In The Blood (Amiga Gringa/Beauty) at convergence-continuum, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Siobhan) at Weathervane Playhouse. You may have also seen her on stage at Blank Canvas Theatre, Western Reserve Playhouse, and Cesear’s Forum.

::Zyrece Montgomery:: (Oracle, Spartan Maid 3, Sailor, Ithican Maid 3, Maid) is an Actor-Teacher for Great Lakes Theater. Some of her most recent roles have been Cammy in Himalayan Dreams, Abdellah in About a Ghoul, Beneatha in A Raisin in the Sun, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Friar Laurencia in Romeo and Juliet, and Mom in The Marilyn Bianchi Kids Playwright Festival. Zyrece is excited for her second season with Ensemble Theatre, where you will see her later this season as Maybe in Intimate Apparel. She would like to thank God, family, and friends for their support!

:: Shley Snider:: (Telemachus, Suitor, Maid) has had an incredible first year in the Cleveland Theatre scene. She’s invaded France (Henry V, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival’s Henry V); fought with the Merry Men (Maid Marion, Ohio Shakespeare Festival’s Maid Marion: An Adventure with Music); met a fool in the forest (Jaques, French Creek Theatre’s As You Like It); brought about a hundred-year winter (The White Witch, Players’ Guild’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe); fought for gang turf (Velma, Akron Symphony’s West Side Story); helped save Christmas and talked to animals (The Illusion Factory’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Aesop’s Animals); and even been the victim AND the perpetrator in a few murders (various shows with The Dinner Detective and Get Away With Murder). She is ecstatic to be making her Ensemble debut with The Penelopiad and will be continuing her Ensemble journey as Helga in Kindertransport. Shley received her MFA in Performance from the University of Southern Mississippi. A produced playwright (Robbed, Bone Wars, Drive Thru: The Musical, and the upcoming Trollop), Shley also works as a comedy rap artist, performing in such venues as The PIT NYC, the Impractical Jokers Cruise, and Lyric Theatre Miami. thatswhatshleysaid.com Insta @shleytherapper

:: Hannah Storch :: (Icarius, Tanis, Maid) is delighted to make her debut with Ensemble Theatre. A graduate of Kent State University, she studied theatre and English. Hannah has toured with multiple theatre companies around the United States including The National Theatre for Children out of Minneapolis, MN and Bright Star Touring Company out of Asheville, NC. She also played with the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire in Manheim, PA for three seasons. A Cleveland native, she has worked with Cleveland Public Theatre, The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, Talespinners Children's Theatre, and Shahazard Theatre Company to name a few. Thank you to her family and friends for their love and support and to you, for supporting live, local theatre. Enjoy!

::Jaytionna Wells:: (Antinous, Spartan Maid 4, Suitor 2, Maid)is a Cleveland Artist. She has performed in places such as Cleveland school of the Arts, Ensemble Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, and Cleveland Public Theater. She’s also assistant stage managed for Panther Women, Fire on the Water, and Station Hope at Cleveland Public Theatre. She has been a teaching artist for CPT’s step program. She hopes to continue to be apart of many more theater arts productions and programs.

:: Stephanie Wilbert :: (Odysseus/Maid) is an Actor, Director, and Adjunct Faculty Theater Instructor at Lorain County Community College. She received her MFA in Theater: Contemporary Performance from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where she primarily focused on ensemble-based performance and devised theater techniques. Naropa University performance credits include: Sirens Fury Playlist, Now!, For Something Completely Different (Directed by Stephen Wangh), and 7/21 (Directed by member of The Tectonic Theater Project, Greg Pierotti). Stephanie is an Actors Equity Membership Candidate (EMC) and received her BA in Theater Arts from Cleveland State University, where she co-founded The Dramatic Arts Movement Ensemble (D.A.M.E.). In Northeastern Ohio, Stephanie worked as the Interim Artistic Director for The Illusion Factory and has performed with The Ohio City Theater Project, Talespinner Children’s Theater, Cleveland Public Theater, The Cleveland Ingenuity Festival, Stratosphere, and Ohio Capoeira Brasil.