Shakespeare frankfurt proudly presents
spiritus vitae
the breath of life
Spiritus Vitae – The Breath of Life was born from the desire to create art during a time when traditional theatre, and the creative outlet it provides for cast, crew and audience alike, was unavailable to the world. Our cast and crew all worked for free, and the very limited budget went entirely into the production. Only a couple of rehearsals and one afternoon of filming per scene – and we are extremely proud of the result. Like so many other performing arts entities we offer this for your free viewing pleasure – but would be most grateful if you could consider supporting us with a donation. If you have any questions regarding your donation, please contact Varvara Pomoni.
the story behind the film
During the summer of 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, Shakespeare Frankfurt worked diligently on a special project. As we could not walk our audience through our regular Shakespeare play in the Botanischer Garten Frankfurt, as we do every summer, we decided to bring the garden and Shakespeare to them. Starting in May we selected scenes we felt could work. Given that the content is Shakespeare, there was no shortage of pieces to choose from, however we needed to keep it to a few. We started rehearsals in June, and then spent almost every Sunday from July through August filming one scene each day, using only natural light and the time we had until sunset to breathe life into eight different moments depicted in Shakespeare’s work. All of the artists volunteered their time on this project. We hope you love this film as much as we enjoyed making it.
Meet our
Cast & Crew
production team
click for roles & bios
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Elisa von Issendorff
Marina | Pericles
Director | A Winter's Tale
Production AssistantElisa began her involvement with English-language theater at the age of seventeen with the English Dramatic Society at University Erlangen-Nuremberg. She has performance experience as an actress and singer and directs a student choir. From 2018 to 2019, she was musical director for two musical productions, “Tone Death” and “College Collage,” of the Chaincourt Theatre Company and contributed music to the production of “The Scarecrow.” She also contributed music and worked as the music director for Shakespeare Frankfurt’s production of “Trojan Women” in February 2020. Since 2018, she has been a surtitles manager at the Frankfurt Opera and works as assistant dramaturge for individual productions. She is a student of theatre, film and media studies at Goethe University Frankfurt.
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Emilio Wolfgang Gotterbarm-Diaz
Production Assistant
Emilio is a half Colombian and half German actor. His interest in acting began at a very young age. Throughout the years he has gained experience on stage with plays and musicals such as; “Les Miserables”, “Borrados” (self-written play), “Twelfth Night” and “Macbeth”. He speaks German, Spanish, French and English fluently. He currently lives in London, where he studies Animation/VFX at the London College of Communication. This is his fourth time working with Shakespeare Frankfurt, and his first time working behind the scenes as a boom operator.
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James Reed
Director of Photography
James (*1984 Mississippi, USA) has worked for film and TV productions since 2008. He currently works for Contentivity, a video production company based in Frankfurt.
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Markella Katidou
Props
Markella comes from Greece and she is a scientist working in the pharma industry. Arts were always part of her life: painting, arts and crafts, writing, music. The last 5 years she attended various improv theatre courses with TLS Frankfurt and performed in a monthly improv show with the group The Sidekicks. Apart from Spiritus Vitae: The Breath of Life, she has been involved as a prop specialist in Shakespeare Frankfurt production of Trojan Women earlier this year.
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Mathias Kunzler
Fight Director
Mathias was bitten by the stage combat bug in 1992 and is working as a freelancing fight director and stage combat teacher. He studied with teachers from the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat and the Society of American Fight Directors, and since 2012, he has been teaching as a guest instructor at several stage combat workshops in the United States. Also since 2012, being an archaeologist in normal life, he trains the gladiator group “Ludus Gorgonis” for the department of classics at Giessen University. 2015, he finished his teacher training and became one of the first four certified teachers of Stage Combat Deutschland. His first fight direction for Shakespeare Frankfurt was for the production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2018. Since then, he also directed the fights for Othello and Macbeth.
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Michael Heipel
Camera
Michael Heipel has got a background in events management. Since 2014, he runs his own video and content production agency in Frankfurt www.contentivity.de. In his spare time, he loves to play bossanova on classical guitar.
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Shayana Luisa Gotterbarm Diaz
Production Assistant
Shayana is half Colombian and half German. She is currently studying comparative literature and English studies at the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Universität Frankfurt. During her last school years, she developed an interest in theatre, film and literature. She is also interested in writing and directing. She has been working with Shakespeare Frankfurt for a year now on and offstage.
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Stephan Junek
Photographer
Stephan studied Biophysics and Neuroscience and is creating images using microscopes in his professional life. His passion for photography started when he was a teenager, and he has been active as a travel, wedding, production and portrait photographer. He previously covered the “Trojan Women” project for Shakespeare Frankfurt as a production photographer.
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Varvara Pomoni
Antipholus | The Comedy of Errors
Production CoordinatorVarvara comes from Athens, Greece. Her training includes theatre improvisation, Meisner technique and various acting & stage combat classes in Germany and masterclasses on Shakespeare and on clowning techniques in the UK. In 2019, she trained on Shakespeare's language with RSC’s Michael Corbidge and currently she trains on Meyerhold’s Biomechanics & Physical Theatre at the New International Performing Arts Institute in Berlin. Most recently, she acted at the English Theatre Frankfurt’s production of Huck Finn, she played the role of Tupolski in Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman at the Internationales Theater Frankfurt and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare Frankfurt’s 2019 production of Macbeth at the Botanical Garden. Spiritus Vitae: The Breath of Life marks her seventh production with Shakespeare Frankfurt.
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Vera Mark
Communications Manager
Vera has been involved with the theatre since she was a teenager. She has participated in numerous productions of FEST, the Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre, acting, crewing and directing. In 2016, Vera joined Shakespeare Frankfurt as Adrian in ‘The Tempest’; in the past few years has served SF as stage manager and assistant director and in February 2020 played the part of Andromache in Euripides' 'Trojan Women' at the International Theatre Frankfurt. In 2019, Vera added a published sci-fi short story and two short films to her credits as (screen)writer and director. She is very happy to be involved in 'Spiritus Vitae' and is looking forward to a time when theatre can return to the live stage.
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Michael Kinzer
Dromio | The Comedy of Errors
Creative Producer
Film EditorMichael has been acting since he was a child, both on stage and in front of the camera. During his film studies in Mainz he appeared in several short and feature films. His last film And the Rest Is History earned him a nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Foreign Language Film at the London International Filmmaker Festival. With the touring Zettels Theater company he performed in a number of German Shakespeare productions, including Richard III where he played the title role. In 2019 he starred as another infamous king: Macbeth, his fifth production with Shakespeare Frankfurt, after having played Ariel in The Tempest, Sebastian in Twelfth Night, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Dr. Stockmann in Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People. His other acting credits include: Sartre’s No Exit, Yasmina Reza’s Art, Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman and Martin Heckmanns’ one-person play Finnisch, for which he received the Best Actor award at the Freispiel theatre festival in Freiburg. His editing skills originate from his daytime job as media curator and editor for the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum where he works since 2009.
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PJ Escobio
Director
Leontes | The Winter’s TalePJ is primarily a Theatre director whose production of Huck Finn is in its second season at the English Theatre Frankfurt. His production of The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh was at the Internationales Theater Frankfurt in the Fall of 2019. He is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Frankfurt, for whom he will direct King Lear in the Botanische Garten Frankfurt, summer 2021. His past directorial work for Shakespeare Frankfurt include: Trojan Women by Euripides, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors (cancelled due to Covid) and An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen. From 2015-18 he was the Director in Residence at The LOFT, where he directed Shakespeare in the Garden:Hortus Inclusus, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Grounded by George Brandt and was the co-creator of Where. For 10 years he was the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Anyone? founded in New York City in 2005, where he directed, produced and/or performed roles from all but 5 of Shakespeare’s plays. He also cast and directed BFA playwriting thesis projects for NYU’s Tisch school of the arts. He has taught Acting, Scene study, Stage combat and Shakespeare courses at the collegiate level as well as high schools and private institutions for over 20 years. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Missouri-KC.
cast
click for roles & bios
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Anna Rogers
Narrator
Anna’s interest in theatre started as a child, taking acting lessons and participating in various drama competitions, later passing exams of the Poetry Society and LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art). She has been working freelance since 2008. As well as voiceover work and acting, she has experience directing and playwriting. Her plays have been performed in Europe and the USA. She has performed in London, Frankfurt and other European locations, including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Previous roles with Shakespeare Frankfurt are Hovstad in Enemy of the People (Ibsen), Ross in Macbeth (Shakespeare) and Hecuba in Trojan Women (Euripides).
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Varvara Pomoni
Antipholus | The Comedy of Errors
Production CoordinatorVarvara comes from Athens, Greece. Her training includes theatre improvisation, Meisner technique and various acting & stage combat classes in Germany and masterclasses on Shakespeare and on clowning techniques in the UK. In 2019, she trained on Shakespeare's language with RSC’s Michael Corbidge and currently she trains on Meyerhold’s Biomechanics & Physical Theatre at the New International Performing Arts Institute in Berlin. Most recently, she acted at the English Theatre Frankfurt’s production of Huck Finn, she played the role of Tupolski in Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman at the Internationales Theater Frankfurt and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare Frankfurt’s 2019 production of Macbeth at the Botanical Garden. Spiritus Vitae: The Breath of Life marks her seventh production with Shakespeare Frankfurt.
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Eva Patterson
Ursula | Much Ado about Nothing
Eva has acted in Shakespeare Frankfurt's production of "The Trojan Women", as well as in three productions of the Goethe university's Chaincourt Theatre Company including Langdon Mitchell's "The New York Idea", a stage adaptation of "The Graduate", and "Tone Death: a musical review". An experienced musician, she spends her free time singing, playing the piano, and doing yoga.
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Leanne Maksin
Hero | Much Ado about Nothing
Leanne is a voice and stage actor and stage manager from Chicago, Illinois. She has been involved with the English language theatre community in Frankfurt since 2018 when she performed as the voice of TCC-416 in the short play of the same name, written by PJ Escobio and produced by The LOFT. With Shakespeare Frankfurt, she has performed in An Enemy of the People (2018), Othello (2019) and stage managed for the production of Macbeth (2019) in the Botanischer Garten Frankfurt. She also plays the lead role in Huck Finn, a play for young audiences at The English Theatre Frankfurt, currently in its second season. When not onstage, Leanne is recording voiceover projects from her home studio for clients around the world. She recently began show calling for The English Theatre Frankfurt's current production of Switzerland (2020). Leanne also manages Shakespeare Frankfurt’s website and social media.
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Zeynep Turgut
Beatrice | Much Ado about Nothing
Zeynep took lessons with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the American Academy of Dramatic arts. She joined Shakespeare Frankfurt in 2019 starring in ‚Trojan Women‘ and is now in her second project with the group.
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Paul Cowlan
First Grave-digger | Hamlet
Paul became a professional singer-songwriter in 1975, touring worldwide for forty years thereafter. With nine music albums, four poetry collections, eleven alchemy booklets and assorted literary prizes to his credit, he has also been active in both the Poetry and Song-Slam scenes, representing Frankfurt nationally in 2009 & 2010. For well over half his life he has been 'onstage', either performing, lecturing or conducting courses. As a Shakespeare fanatic he was active in Shakespeare Anyone? between 2012 and 2015; and subsequently, Shakespeare Frankfurt. He was one of the originators of Hortus Inclusus (2016), also researcher and performer. He played Prospero (The Tempest. 2016); Sir Toby Belch (Twelfth Night. 2017); Morten Kiil (Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. 2018); Oberon and Flute (A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2018, for which he also composed the music); and Iago, in the 2019 condensed, seven-actor, presentation of 'O' (Othello). In the 2019 Garden presentation of Macbeth, he played the expanded role of Seyton (incorporating the Porter and Old Man), the sinister coven-master of the three witches. www.paulcowlan.co.uk
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Thomas Lehmann
Second Grave-digger | Hamlet
Tom is a French palaeontologist, born in Alsace, where he nursed his love for old bones and theatre. After several experiences on stage as a teenager, Tom joined the LUDI Poitiers (a French Comedy Sport group) during his studies and let “improv” enter his life. After peregrinating overseas, he moved to Frankfurt in 2008 to work at the Senckenberg Museum. Between fieldtrips to Kenya, he goes on stage to play in French or English, first with the Sidekicks Improvisational Comedy group, and then in several plays with FEST, the LOFT, Derdiedascalies and Shakespeare Frankfurt. Besides interviews and documentaries about dead animals and past environments, Spiritus vitae / The Breath of Life is his second experience of acting in front of a camera. Tom is a wine, cheese, Star Trek, role playing, and Africa addict. He knows everything about aardvarks.
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Antonia Görge
Paulina | The Winter’s Tale
Antonia is an actor and singer from Frankfurt am Main. Spiritus Vitae is her fourth project with Shakespeare Frankfurt and her third at the Botanical Garden.
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James Bailey
Antigonus | The Winter’s Tale
James E. Bailey was born in Los Angeles, California and loves to entertain. Since moving to Frankfurt, he's had the opportunity to perform with Shakespeare Frankfurt, Frankfurt English Speaking Theater, and the German American Community Choir, as well as performing on the stage of the Amelia Earhart Playhouse, Frankfurt Opera, and the English Theatre Frankfurt. In addition to acting, James also enjoys music and music he has written has been performed by the German American Community choir, and Shakespeare Frankfurt. James is excited to be a part of this film project and hopes to continue to do much more with Shakespeare Frankfurt.
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Emma Teitge
Lysander | A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Emma is a Frankfurt native and just finished her first year in the BA (Hons) Acting programme of the Institute of the Arts Barcelona. She has been part of Shakespeare Frankfurt since the production of “An Enemy of the People” by Henrik Ibsen in the International Theatre Frankfurt in 2018 and was also part of Shakespeare in the Garden in “Macbeth” as a witch in 2019. She has been acting, singing and dancing in a musical theatre school for over 13 years and has been part of the production of “Je t’aime, Je t’aime“ at Schauspiel Frankfurt. She was also part of international Stagecoach musical productions such as “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat“, “Little Shop of Horrors“ and “Footloose“ in London, England.
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Melina Stephan
Hermia | A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Melina began her acting training at a young age, taking classes in all three performance disciplines at Stagecoach Frankfurt Nord. In 2016 she joined the 'Schauspiel Frankfurt Youth Theatre', where she had a part in their 2017 original production 'United in Peace and Freedom'. Since then she’s worked with drama tutor and director Jenny Lipman, taken part in one of LAMDA's Shakespeare Summer Courses, and completed a foundation programme in acting at StageAccess Frankfurt. As of October 2020, Melina will be attending LAMDA’s Foundation course to further hone her skills.
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Allix James
Oliver | As you Like it
Allix trained at Webber Douglas Academy in London. He worked for many years as an actor in the UK, performing both in theatre and film. He is a playwright; his first production Dark in The Water was performed at the White Bear Theatre, London summer 2018; the White Bear went on to produce his next play Valhalla (January 2019) which was transferred to Brighton Fringe 2019. Valhalla will be transferred again as Allix continues with his other writing projects. Allix played Ariel in The Pillowman at the Amelia Earhart Playhouse and ITF at the end of last year. This is his first time working with Shakespeare Frankfurt and he is thrilled to be a part of it.
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Matthias Feldhaus Posada
Orlando | As you Like it
Matthias is an actor in training born in the United States of America to Mexican Parents of German and Spanish ancestry. He grew up in Paris, France and moved to the Taunus area near Frankfurt am Main in 2010. He discovered his passion for acting after finishing his German Abitur diploma which led him to gathering experience in theatre and short films before enrolling in the BA Acting Programme of the Institute of the Arts Barcelona, in which he will attend the second academic year in September. This is Matthias’ second production with Shakespeare Frankfurt, the first one being the 2019 Summer Production in the botanical Garden, Macbeth.
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James Phetterplace Jr.
Nurse | Romeo & Juliet
Jim’s previous experience on camera includes Fremdkörperkredit and Nimmerlandverräter (in German), and the music video to Over by Deux. He has appeared with this ensemble as MacDuff, Rodorigo, Orsino, Stefano and Alonso. He has recently directed for FEST e.V., the ECB Theatre Ensemble, and the English Theatre Frankfurt. Jim’s other local acting credits include work with FEST e.V., the Interkulturelle Bühne (in German) and Oper Frankfurt. He is currently adapting short stories by Native American writer Beth Brant for the stage.
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Klara Weber
Juliet | Romeo & Juliet
Klara fell in love with theatre and the performing arts, when in 2012 her school cooperated with the Staatstheater Mainz and gave her the opportunity to be a part of an opera for children. Since then she has been obsessed with theatre and music. She started taking classical singing lessons at the Peter Cornelius Conservatorium in Mainz. Looking for more acting experiences, she took a contemporary scenes study course with “Shakespeare Frankfurt”. Since then she has played Liesl in the Amelia Earhart Playhouse production of “Sound of Music”, Donalbain and the Second Witch in Shakespeare Frankfurt’s “Shakespeare in the Garden – Macbeth” and sang in last years’ Christmas production of Kryptonite Radio Theatre. She loves working with Shakespeare Frankfurt, who has opened so many doors for her and continues to do so. Now she is excited to be a part of Spiritus vitae The Breath of Life, which give her the chance to work in front of a camera.
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Elisa von Issendorff
Marina | Pericles
Director | A Winter's Tale
Production AssistantElisa began her involvement with English-language theater at the age of seventeen with the English Dramatic Society at University Erlangen-Nuremberg. She has performance experience as an actress and singer and directs a student choir. From 2018 to 2019, she was musical director for two musical productions, “Tone Death” and “College Collage,” of the Chaincourt Theatre Company and contributed music to the production of “The Scarecrow.” She also contributed music and worked as the music director for Shakespeare Frankfurt’s production of “Trojan Women” in February 2020. Since 2018, she has been a surtitles manager at the Frankfurt Opera and works as assistant dramaturge for individual productions. She is a student of theatre, film and media studies at Goethe University Frankfurt.
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Nathan Records
Pericles
Nate is currently the director of the Amelia Earhart Playhouse for the US Army in Wiesbaden, and has spent 15 years working with US Army Entertainment. Nate has an MFA in directing from Baylor University and a bachelor’s degree in acting from Northern Michigan University. Nate has also taught theatre at the college level, leading the theatre program at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. Nate’s directing credits include Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Avenue Q, Bryony Lavery’s Frozen, The Neverending Story, Lost In Yonkers, Woyzeck, Noises Off, and Mary Poppins, among many others. Nate has won awards for acting and directing with Army Entertainment productions, and was twice an Irene Ryan nominee while at NMU. In his limited spare time, Nate becomes a recluse at home with his wife Maren and three kids (Eowyn, Asher, and Ivy), two dogs, three grills, and playwriting.
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Michael Kinzer
Dromio | The Comedy of Errors
Creative Producer
Film EditorMichael has been acting since he was a child, both on stage and in front of the camera. During his film studies in Mainz he appeared in several short and feature films. His last film And the Rest Is History earned him a nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Foreign Language Film at the London International Filmmaker Festival. With the touring Zettels Theater company he performed in a number of German Shakespeare productions, including Richard III where he played the title role. In 2019 he starred as another infamous king: Macbeth, his fifth production with Shakespeare Frankfurt, after having played Ariel in The Tempest, Sebastian in Twelfth Night, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Dr. Stockmann in Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People. His other acting credits include: Sartre’s No Exit, Yasmina Reza’s Art, Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman and Martin Heckmanns’ one-person play Finnisch, for which he received the Best Actor award at the Freispiel theatre festival in Freiburg. His editing skills originate from his daytime job as media curator and editor for the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum where he works since 2009.
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PJ Escobio
Director
Leontes | The Winter’s TalePJ is primarily a Theatre director whose production of Huck Finn is in its second season at the English Theatre Frankfurt. His production of The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh was at the Internationales Theater Frankfurt in the Fall of 2019. He is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Frankfurt, for whom he will direct King Lear in the Botanische Garten Frankfurt, summer 2021. His past directorial work for Shakespeare Frankfurt include: Trojan Women by Euripides, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors (cancelled due to Covid) and An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen. From 2015-18 he was the Director in Residence at The LOFT, where he directed Shakespeare in the Garden:Hortus Inclusus, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Grounded by George Brandt and was the co-creator of Where. For 10 years he was the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Anyone? founded in New York City in 2005, where he directed, produced and/or performed roles from all but 5 of Shakespeare’s plays. He also cast and directed BFA playwriting thesis projects for NYU’s Tisch school of the arts. He has taught Acting, Scene study, Stage combat and Shakespeare courses at the collegiate level as well as high schools and private institutions for over 20 years. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Missouri-KC.
TRAILERS
press
August 20, 2020 | Botanischer Garten Frankfurt wird zur Filmkulisse Die Theatercompagnie “Shakespeare Frankfurt” geht mit einer Collage aus Stücken neue Wege.
photo gallery
with gratitude
This film would not have been possible without the support and collaboration of the Botanischer Garten Frankfurt and its Freundeskreis, Michael Heipel and Jim Reed of Contentivity, and the beautiful photography of Stephan Junek. We are so thankful for your enthusiasm and willingness to be a part of this special project.
donate to shakespeare frankfurt
If you are enjoying our work, please consider making a donation to help us continue to provide our community with the rich and detailed stories that Shakespeare created for all of us. If you have any questions regarding your donation, please contact Varvara Pomoni.