Much Ado About Nothing |
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| Abby Anderson Sarah Donofrio Austin Vetter |
Michela Murray Roberto Tolentino Detalion Amarius Dixon |
Ronan Melomo Ben Rakow |
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Welcome from the Artistic Director of South Dakota Shakespeare Festival!
South Dakota Shakespeare Festival is thrilled to invite you into our 15th season here in Vermillion, SD! The South Dakota Shakespeare Festival is a professional non-profit theatre company supported by your donations, grants and a long-standing partnership with The University of South Dakota’s College of Fine Arts and Department of Theatre. We know that choosing where to invest is important and I do want you to know how we invest in you. SDSF is proud to offer professional Shakespeare performances with no cost, 3-days of programming to Upward Bound Students, classes at the Vermillion Public Library, mini performances for SESDAC and the Sanford Care Center, our growing nationally recognized 6-week residency "Stage Your Change" at the Minnehaha Juvenile Detention Center serving half of the state. With all of our changes and growth we center on fulfilling our mission to engage, connect, and inspire communities by exploring our shared human experiences.
We at SDSF believe that through professional Shakespeare productions, live and streamed, educational programming, and outreach, we can bring artists and communities together to share the joyful, transformative, healing, and empowering experiences of theatre arts. We are thrilled you are a part of tonight's fun.
Thank you for joining us on the green to connect, laugh, cry, and come together with your community!
With Gratitude,
Rebecca Bailey
Executive Artistic Director
Sponsors
Cast
Creative Team
Haley Davis
Grace Nicole Engstrom
Jesse R. Jensen
Jill Clark
Brian Adams
Jacee Casarella
Brook Hardwick
Shiloh Dawn Wrigley
Rebecca Bailey
Abby Anderson
Ronan Melomo
Sabrina V. Egeland
Meet the Company
Sarah Donofrio
Sarah Donofrio is thrilled to be performing with the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival! Regional credits include Fiddler On The Roof (ensemble/u/s Tzeitel, Music Theater Works), Miss Nelson is Missing! (Allison, Roxy Regional Theatre), Cecile, or the School for Fathers (Cecile, Boulevard Theatre), and Dames at Sea (Ruby, Canterbury Summer Theatre). Sarah graduated with a BFA in Musical Theatre & Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is now based back home in Chicago. A big thank you and lots of love to her family and friends for all their support. Website: SarahDonofrio.org.
Abby Anderson
Abby’s recent credits include The Merchant of Venice (Portia) at SDSF, As You Like It (Rosalind) at the ND Shakespeare Festival, Twelfth Night (Malvolio) and The Tempest (Miranda) with the ID Shakespeare Festival Educational Tours. Abby is also an intimacy/fight director and audiobook narrator residing in NYC. BFA: Rider University. MFA: Southern Miss.
Ronan/ Melomo
This is Ronan's second summer with South Dakota Shakespeare Festival, and they are just over the moon to be back in the Miami of South Dakota! Ronan holds two MFA's from Mary Baldwin University, a BFA from NYU, and is currently based out of Staunton, VA. www.ronanmelomo.com
Michela Murray
Michela Murray is a queer actor, drummer, and theatre-maker based in NYC. Recent Work: Resident Artist at TinShed Theatre Co. in NewPort, Wales; are you listening? (The Makers' Space), Titus Andronicus (La Mama ETC); 24 Hour Plays: Nationals 2024 (Off-Broadway). Theatre School at DePaul University BFA. michelamurray.com
Benjamin Rakow
Benjamin is an actor and writer based in Minneapolis, and is thrilled to be spending his summer with SDSF! Next spring, he’ll be graduating from the University of Minnesota with a BFA in Acting. When not performing, Benjamin can be found hiking, reading, and cooking delicious new vegetarian meals.
Roberto Tolention
Roberto Tolentino is a NYC based actor whose past regional work includes productions at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse and American Players Theater. He continues to investigate how theater can be an instrument of positive change in both individuals and society. As always he dedicates this to his mother. MFA Columbia University. BFA UC Santa Barbara.
Detalion Amarius Dixon
Making his South Dakota Shakespeare Debut in the role of Leonato, we are proud to welcome Detalion Dixon. Detalion is a Memphis based actor who originates from Utica Mississippi, where he received his MFA in Acting from The University of Southern Mississippi. Recent Shakespeare Credits include Claudius in Hamlet, Brutus in Julius Caesar, Sebastian in Twelfth Night, and Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He would like to wish everyone a most wonderful time viewing the production. " Give them your passion, and everything will take care of itself" -Lou Rackoff"
Austin Vetter
Austin Vetter is a New York based performer originally from Aberdeen, SD. This is his fifth summer with SD Shakes. He was last seen as Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet. Keep up with his adventures @avetteractor on all social platforms.
Haley Davis
Haley Davis is a director, actor, educator, and studio artist from Texas and based in Virginia. She studied Early Modern theatre performance and rehearsal practices, earning her Master of Letters and Master of Fine Arts in Shakespeare and Performance at Mary Baldwin University. Her artistic interests center around women and gender in classical works.
Haley works at James Madison University's School of Theatre and Dance, teaching theatre classes in performance and production. She is excited to join the SDSF community for a summer of Much Ado About Nothing!
haleydavisartwork.com
Grace Nicole Engstrom
Grace Nicole Engstrom is a recent graduate of the University of South Dakota where she received her BFA in Musical Theatre and Dance Minor! Grace began her Stage Management journey 3 years ago at USD and is very excited to make her professional Stage Manager debut with SD Shakespeare!
Jesse R. Jensen
Jesse Jensen is a South Dakota theatre director, actor, educator, and arts administrator. A USD BFA Acting graduate and Aberdeen native, he has worked in Vermillion, Sioux Falls, Chicago, and Iowa City. His directing credits include productions with The Premiere Playhouse, University of Sioux Falls, Mighty Corson Art Players, and Theatre Lab. He serves on the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival Board of Directors.
Jill Clark
Jill Clark is a graduate from Iowa Lakes Community College and the University of South
Dakota. She often collaborates with SDSF but this year in a new role as Technical Director! Her SDSF design credits include: Macbeth, Comedy Of Errors, Richard III, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, and Othello. She often designs for other area theatres such as The Premiere Playhouse (Cabaret, Young Frankenstein ect.) and the LAMB Theater.
Brian Adams
Originally from the Black Hills, Brian has a BFA in scenic and sound design from USD and is owner of Adams Production Services, an audio, lighting, and theatrical production and installation company based in Vermillion. He also works as a broadcast engineer for SDPB, and enjoys songwriting and playing guitar when he's not busy building or fixing things.
Jacee Casarella
Jacee returns to SD Shakes for her second summer as Scenic & Props Designer. She received her MFA in Scenic Design from Wayne State University in Detroit. Jacee is the Assistant Teaching Professor in Technical Theatre at Augustana University where she also serves as the Technical Director and Resident Designer. In the past, she has designed for Prairie Repertory Theatre and Black Hills Playhouse in addition to serving as Scenic Charge for Des Moines Metro Opera.
Brook Hardwick
Brook Hardwick, Assistant Costume Designer/Wardrobe Supervisor, current student at USD pursuing a degree in Theatre Design and Technology, Specializing in Costume Design, recently designed USD’s Godspell, in past years designed for Couples Therapy for USD’s One Act Festival, and was an assistant designer on USD’s Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief, as well as a costume designer USD’s 2025 Dance Showcase. I spent last summer at Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts in Warsaw, IN as head wardrobe for Steel Magnolias, South Pacific, Sister Act, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Grease.
Shiloh Dawn Wrigley
An aspiring Set and Production Designer with a dual degree in Theatre and Film Production, and cross-training in Interior Design. Graduated from UNC Greensboro with experience as a Props Director for UNC Greensboro's productions of Frankenstein 2026 and Rough Magic 2025, and as a production designer for a few short films for Carmichael Studios.
Rebecca Bailey
Rebecca Bailey is an artist, advocate, and teacher passionate about how theatre provides a means to energize, entertain, and bridge questions about the world around us. Rebecca serves as Asst. Professor of Acting at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro and as the Executive Artistic Director of South Dakota Shakespeare Festival. She holds an MFA in Directing from the University of South Dakota, a BS in Theatre and minor in Dance from South Dakota State University. She is a 200-hour registered yoga teacher, Sexual Assault Advocate, Intimacy Choreographer and spent a wonderful year studying Shakespeare and Performance at Mary Baldwin University/ The American Shakespeare Center. In 2026, she co-hosted a panel for the International Shakespeare Conference by The Shakespeare Theatre Association, “If We Walk Not In The Trodden Paths" - Bridging Shakespeare Performance from "Town to Gown". For SDSF, she has directed The Comedy of Errors, A Celebration of Shakespeare and The Merchant of Venice. Through Community Engaged performance work with the youth and survivors of trauma she built the foundation of SDSF’s nationally recognized program “Staging a Difference with Shakespeare” here in South Dakota. Her performance, directing, and advocate work focus on using movement, kinesthetic awareness, text, mindfulness, and devising to channel experiences into art, healing, and community. She was the recipient for Arkansas of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center Visionary Voice Award (by ACASA) and a Citizen’s Artist Award from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) in 2021.
Abby Anderson
Abby’s recent credits include The Merchant of Venice (Portia) at SDSF, As You Like It (Rosalind) at the ND Shakespeare Festival, Twelfth Night (Malvolio) and The Tempest (Miranda) with the ID Shakespeare Festival Educational Tours. Abby is also an intimacy/fight director and audiobook narrator residing in NYC. BFA: Rider University. MFA: Southern Miss.
Ronan Melomo
This is Ronan's second summer with South Dakota Shakespeare Festival, and they are just over the moon to be back in the Miami of South Dakota! Ronan holds two MFA's from Mary Baldwin University, a BFA from NYU, and is currently based out of Staunton, VA. www.ronanmelomo.com
Sabrina V. Egeland
Sabrina V. Egeland is the Assistant Professor of Practice of Costume Technology and Management for the Dept. of Theatre at the University of South Dakota. She specializes in men’s tailoring, exquisitely tedious fabric manipulation, and putting labels on everything.
Sponsors
Donors
Thanks to our 2026 sponsors for their generosity and support…
Monarch ($5,000+)
City of Vermillion
Susan & Greg Huckabee
National Endowment for the Arts
Arts Midwest
South Dakota Arts Council
USD Department of Theatre
Regent ($2,000-$4,999)
Adams Production Services
Upward Bound
Vermillion Area Community Foundation
Mary & Steve Waller
Missouri River Electric Service
Noble ($1,000-$1,999)
Vermillion Chamber Development Corporation (VCDC)
Donna & Martin Finnegan
Jon Cole
Main Street Inn
Aaron C. Packard Productions
Sanford Vermillion
USD Beacom School of Business
Vermillion Rotary
Walmart
Bard ($500-$999)
First Bank & Trust
United Way of Vermillion
Pristine Enterprises
Donna & Martin Finnegan
Rich Holland
Susan & Doug Tuve
AMS Building Systems, LLC
First Dakota National Bank
Connie & Dennis Nelsen
Evelyn Schlenker
Tammy & Richard Otten
Artisan ($100-$499)
Sarah Chadima & Dick Hammond
Deb & Clark Christensen
Clay Union Electric
Jeanne & Don Dahlin
Cyndi & William Dendinger
Sandy & Ross Dickenson
Mary Edelen
Carol & Tom Geu
Susan & Kurt Hackemer
Karen Hebert & Tim Ricker
Rhonda & Dave Hulkonen
Carol & Bruce Kelley
Samantha Miller & Kevin O’Kelley
Brent Matter Law Office
Ron Johnson
Jane A. Larson
Shawna Lavin
Ted Muenster
Jill Clark & Scott Mannschrek
Prairie Eye Clinic, PC
Katherine Price
Karen Hebert & Tim Ricker
Barb & Bill Rickord
Ray Ring
Lana & Art Rusch
Illmira Dulyanova & Tim Schorn
Barb & Charles Yelverton
Jo Ellen Schweinle
Donna & Harlan Schott
Betty Smith
Ann Dunham & Frank Pommersheim
Craig Thompson Law Office
Varsity Pub
Vanessa & Rand Vergin
Voyage Federal Credit Union
Scott Wagner
Gay & Dean Zimmerman
Groundling ($1-99)
Pat Flaningan
Pete Finger
Tracelyn & Thor Gesteland
Julianne Powers
Jan & Gerry Petersen
Sarah Wittmuss
A special thank you to the following for hosting our actors and staff:
Karen Hebert & Tim Ricker
Susan & Greg Huckabee
Rich Holland
Kristina Lee
Connie & Dennis Nelsen
Cinda Passick
Susan & Doug Tuve
Augustana College
The Premiere Playhouse
South Dakota State University
Carter Newcomb-Weiland
Alex Newcomb-Weiland
Vermillion Community Theatre
Cee Cee's 605 Scratch Kitchen
Dakota Brickhouse & Cafe Brule
If you have contributed to the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival for the 2026 season and do not see your name here (or your name is misspelled) please e-mail sdshakespearefestival@gmail.com so that we can correct this error. Thank you!
This year’s South Dakota Shakespeare Festival is dedicated to Susan and Greg Huckabee. The Huckabee’s were instrumental helping start the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival. They have tirelessly dedicated their time and resources over the years towards successful Festivals. Thank you! Thank you!
