Andrew was recently nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play for his turn as Toby Darling in Matthew Lopez' The Inheritance. We'll discuss his experiences as Valentine in Two Gentlemen of Verona (Commonwealth Shakespeare) and Troilus in Troilus & Cressida (Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park) and how his training in Shakespeare's language informs all of his work on stage.

Ricardo is an actor, director, teacher, and writer. From Leontes in The Winter's Tale (Actors' Shakespeare Theatre), to Banquo in Macbeth (Trinity Rep.), to Othello (Colonial Theatre, Shakespeare in the Park), King Lear and many, many more through decades, as a teacher and director working with actors and students to bring Shakespeare's amazing words to life on stage and in the classroom, Ricardo will talk about the vitality of these great plays and why and how they still matter today!

Karen has worked many years in the New England area, worked nationally from The Wilma Theatre to Berkeley Rep. She has been awarded several IRNE and Eliot Norton Awards, most recently receiving the 2017 Eliot Norton for Best Performance by an Actress in Finish Line. She has received the Robert Brustein Prize for Sustained Achievement in the Theatre and the Eliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence. She is a graduate of Boston University and teaches Acting at Harvard University. You may recognize her from our production of  Escaped Alone from our 34th season.

Lauded by critics, John Douglas Thompson has been extolled by the New York Times “as one of the most compelling classical stage actors of his generation.” Thompson was last seen on Broadway in King Lear in the role of Earl of Kent.

In 2018, he co-starred in the two-time Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical Carousel. He also starred in the Huntington Theatre Company’s Man in the Ring, (Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards). In 2017, he appeared in the titular role of the American Conservatory Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet; and he co-starred in the highly publicized Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar (Caius Cassius).

Thompson received rave reviews for his role as Becker in August Wilson’s Broadway play Jitney, for which he received a Tony Award nomination.

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Marianna Bassham has appeared with The Gamm Theater in many plays including A Streetcar Named Desire, Hedda Gabler and Uncle Vanya. She has also appeared with Playwrights Horizons(NYC, Off-Broadway), The Huntington Theater, SpeakEasy Stage, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Commonwealth Shakespeare, Central Square Theatre, The Lyric, New Rep, Underground Railway, The Nora, Greater Boston Stage Company, and Boston Playwrights.

Her film and TV credits include Moonrise Kingdom directed by Wes Anderson, Olive Kitteridge, Castle Rock, and the upcoming Don't Look Up. She is an IRNE and Elliot Norton award recipient and teaches acting at Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

Remo appeared in over 60 productions as a company member of American Repertory Theatre and has been seen on stages across the region including Lyric Stage, New Rep., Boston Playwrights and is a regular presence at Commonwealth Shakespeare where he has appeared most recently in Cymbeline as well as Twelfth Night, Richard III, Coriolanus and many more.

Remo has worked extensively nationally and internationally at major theatres including Hartford Stage, The Geffen Playhouse, American Conservatory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Rep. and Cirque De Soleil. He teaches acting and public speaking at Harvard University.

Join us for a Special Valentine's Day Episode of Brush Up Your Shakespeare- "Shakespeare on... Love" with returning guests Andrew Burnap and Nora Eschenheimer who will take us through the greatest "Love" scene of all time, the "Balcony" scene from Romeo & Juliet. We'll explore this scene and some of the Bard of Avon's most memorable musings on the eternal mystery of Love, that "ever-fixed mark, that looks on Tempests and is never shaken..."

Please join us for the final episode of our year-long series featuring The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's Founding Artistic Director Steve Maler to talk about the history of the CSC, Shakespeare for everybody and coming back from the Pandemic.