King Lear Cast

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 has been shortlisted for a possible televised production. Allix has recently written and co-produced the radio drama series Meanwhile at 3am. He played Ariel in The Pillowman at the Amelia Earhart Playhouse and the ITF at the end of last year. This is his second time working with Shakespeare Frankfurt after being a part of last year’s filmed Spiritus Vitae, where he also played the part of Edgar.

Anna Rogers’ (she/her) interest in theatre started early, taking acting lessons as a child 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, and her latest play An English Angst was streamed online this year. She has performed in London, Frankfurt and other European locations, including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Previous roles with Shakespeare Frankfurt include Hovstad in Enemy of the People (Ibsen), Ross in Macbeth (Shakespeare) and Hecuba in Trojan Women (Euripides).

Christopher Morahan (he/him) moved to Frankfurt in 2017. Prior to this he lived in Dublin where he performed with the University College Dublin drama society. He has previously performed with Shakespeare Frankfurt in An Enemy of the People, Othello and Macbeth. Christopher is half Irish/half Dutch.

Daniel Toyne’s long affair with theatre began at the age of 7, when he wrote, directed, designed and – of course! – ‘starred’ in Wizard Weazel, a musical based on a character in his favourite comic: Treasure. From 1988 Daniel spent 25 years in Singapore, involved in theatre and television drama throughout. Directed projects include Macbeth and Twelfth Night (Shakespeare), The Rivals (Sheridan), The Caretaker (Pinter), Habeas Corpus (Bennett) and Top Girls (Churchill). Major acting roles include Prospero (The Tempest), Phillip/Wisehammer (Our Country’s Good), Norman (The Dresser) and Furtwängler (Taking Sides). He also devised, wrote and directed two large-scale pantomimes ~ Robinson Crusoe and A! (a revisiting of Alice in Wonderland). This is Daniel’s first production with Shakespeare Frankfurt. Since arriving in Germany, to teach at Frankfurt International School, he has directed twice for FEST ~ An Inspector Calls (2019) and Death of a Salesman (2020).

Emma Teitge (she/her) is a Frankfurt native and has completed her first year on 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 at the International Theatre Frankfurt in 2018 and in 2019 joined Shakespeare in the Garden in “Macbeth” as a witch. In 2020 she appeared in Shakespeare Frankfurt’s film “Spiritus Vitae- The Breath of Life” in the role of Lysander and embodied Mariane in “Tartuffe”. She has been acting, singing and dancing in a musical theatre school for over 13 years and was part of the production of “Je t’aime, Je t’aime“ at Schauspiel Frankfurt. She has also performed in international Stagecoach musical productions such as “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat“, “Little Shop of Horrors“ and “Footloose“ in London, England.

(He/Him) Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, on a diet rich in Sci-Fi & Musical Theatre, Evan Schweitzer has wandered the Earth searching for meaning and hoping that the truth is out there. A professional actor since he was a teenager, he has performed with TheaterworksUSA, New England Shakespeare Company, Spontaneous Shakespeare Company, Trap Door International (an extension of Trap Door Theatre in Chicago), Gorilla Rep, and more. Evan received his degree in Theatre Arts from Rutgers University and has studied at Upright Citizens Brigade and the Barrow Group in NYC and St. Mary's University in London. Since moving to Barcelona in 2012 and later Frankfurt in 2017, he has performed and taught with Barcelona Improv Group (BIG) and TLS Frankfurt, and various indie teams. Additionally, he has taught improv at the Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory.

Francesco Schiavio is a 16-year-old student from Italy. He has always had a special interest for theatre and was involved from an early age in school productions as well as improv classes. This is his first project with Shakespeare Frankfurt, working both on and off-stage, and he hopes it can be the start of a long series of experiences in the world of acting.

Jonathan Roth came in touch with theatre during his school years, and it eventually became his life’s passion. He has been active as a performer in various companies for over 15 years now, including Zettels Theater, Theater 3D and Staatstheater Darmstadt. He has appeared in numerous German Shakespeare productions and played the title roles in “Pericles”, "Henry V" and "Hamlet”. With Theater 3D, he is engaged in the production of documentary theatre plays. His first work as a playwright, "Dichterliebe", in which he also portrayed the poet icon Heinrich Heine, was awarded the jury prize at the MADE.Festival Hessen. In his spare time, he works as a lecturer at the University of Mainz, where his research and teaching focuses on cultural policy and independent theater. "King Lear" is his first production with Shakespeare Frankfurt, in which he gets to don the Fool’s coxcomb.

Keith Wilson, a native Tennessean currently residing in Germany, has been successfully working as a singer, dancer, actor and choreographer. Keith has a diverse educational background with Diplomas in Musical (American Musical Dramatics Academy), Speech & Theatre (Austin Peay State Univ), Elementary Education (Austin Peay State Univ), and ESL Training Certification (Cambridge University, England). Keith has performed nationally and internationally in the German Productions of The Lion King, Starlight Express, La Cage Aux Folles, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Dream Girls (in concert). European productions of the opera Porgy & Bess - Rome Opera, Theatro Bellini, Semeper Oper, Frankfurt Opera, Magnetic Opera Festival Italy, Dahala Opera Festival, Sweden and Japan Tour in Tokyo and Osaka. Choreography success: Song & Dance (Landestheater Eisenach Germany), Some Like It Hot (Anhaltisches Theater Dessau), La Cage Aux Folles (Ass. Choreo/Dance Captain), Ain’t Misbehavin (U.S.), Jesus Christ Superstar (U.S.), U.S. Youth Prod. Asst. Choreographer for Will Rogers Follies, Grease, Once on This Island, Little Shop of Horrors, and Guys and Dolls. Keith is a member of AEA and has performed in Equity Productions such as Ain’t Misbehavin, Big River, La Cage Aux Folles, Guys and Dolls, Five Guys Named Mo, Anything Goes, Sophisticated Ladies and starred as Tony Witcomb in Shear Madness at the Kennedy CTR.

Leanne Maksin (she/her) is a voice actor, stage actor and stage manager from Aurora, Illinois, USA. 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 and in August 2020, she began stage managing at The English Theatre Frankfurt. Leanne also manages Shakespeare Frankfurt’s website and social media platforms.

Michael Kinzer (He/Him) has been acting since he was a child. 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 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 Festival in Freiburg. In 2020 he co-developed, edited and acted in Shakespeare Frankfurt’s first feature film Spiritus Vitae – The Breath of Life and portrayed the mentally unstable composer Robert Schumann in Theater 3D’s production Dichterliebe which won the jury award at the MADE Festival in Fulda.

Nathan Dodd is a 14 years old student at the Metropolitan School of Frankfurt. He has always been fascinated by Drama from a very young age. As soon as he was able to stand on stage, he participated in every Drama / Musical production at school (including the roles of Captain Hook in Peter Pan, the phony physician in the same play and the mayor of Whoville in Horton Hears a Who). In June 2019, he participated in Macbeth by Shakespeare Frankfurt as the son of Macduff. In February 2020, Nathan played the role of Astyanax in Trojan Women (EURIPIDES). In April 2021 Nathan acted the main role in a film from Jackson Beyda, Elements of Reading.

Patrick Joyce (he/him) was Born in Italy and raised in the UK, Patrick is a translator by profession. After Trojan Women, King Lear will be his second project with Shakespeare Frankfurt.

Paul Cowlan became a professional singer-songwriter in 1975, touring worldwide for forty years thereafter. With assorted music, poetry and alchemical publications, he was also active in both the Poetry and Song-Slam scenes. All his life he has been 'onstage', 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.

Susanna Mauer (she/her) is an actress and singer currently based in Frankfurt. Her love for theatre developed at an early age and she began voice, dance and acting training when she was just 6 years old. After spending her early childhood working and training in the UK, she moved to Germany with her family and received an acting scholarship from the Peter Ustinov Foundation. As a teenager she appeared in several productions at the English Theatre and the Gallus Theater in Frankfurt. Susanna has spent the last three years studying English at the University of Cambridge, where she was an active member of the student drama scene and participated in 35 productions alongside her degree. For the past two (pre-covid) summers she has worked and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This is her second project with Shakespeare Frankfurt, having played ‘Dorine’ in rehearsals for Molière’s Tartuffe.

Tom Freischläger regularly appears in classical concerts as an oboist, orchestra conductor, presenter and narrator. He has previously played roles in multiple productions of the Chaincourt Theatre Company at Goethe University. This is his first appearance with Shakespeare Frankfurt.

Varvara comes from Athens, Greece. She has trained in various theatre institutions in Germany and in England on Meisner Technique, Improvisation, Shakespeare's Text and on Meyerhold's Biomechanics & Physical Theatre. This is her eighth production with Shakespeare Frankfurt having played the roles of Lady Macbeth (Macbeth) and Emilia (Othello) in 2019. Most recently, she performed in Huck Finn for The English Theatre Frankfurt and acted in Shakespeare Frankfurt's film Spiritus Vitae - The Breath of Life.