Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe

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Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe

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A non-profit community theatre group devoted to works of Shakespeare & other notable playwrights.

CAST programs are funded in part by a grant from the Gloucester Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

11/04/2026

Meet the Cast of CAST - Stephen Chueka (Black Comedy)

“Rounding out our Black Comedy cast is Stephen Chueka, who is making his debut with CAST in Black Comedy. As the scrambling (and somewhat neurotic) starving artist Brindsley Miller, Stephen’s performance involves it all - quick comedy, lots of running around, tumbling down stairs, and a number of unfortunate gags at his expense. You can watch Stephen’s hilarious descent into shenanigan-induced madness at the Natti-Wilsky Theater in Gloucester from November 5th-8th and 12th-15th. Thurs-Sat. shows are at 7:30pm with Sun. matinees at 3pm. Tickets can be found on www.gloucesterstage.com

Q:What has been your favorite role to date?
A: This past summer I got the chance to play a dream role of mine: Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Salem Playhouse.

Q: What has been the most challenging part of this role for you?
A: Brindsley is ever present on stage, even when other characters aren’t aware of his presence. Meticulously planning his movements around the dialogue, while also staying mentally-present enough to really drop into the scenes has been a practice in balance and focus.

Q: With all the exaggerated personalities in the show, is there any aspect of your character that you feel you can relate to?
A: Brindsley spends a lot of time trying to downplay the issues he’s experiencing; that’s something I know I can sometimes be guilty of doing. Playing this role has been a great reminder to face problems with transparency and head-on, rather than pretending everything is okay.

Q: What is an out-of-context line from the show that you enjoy?
A: “Jiggle that thing!”

Q: What song are you putting on when you’re having guests over (provided that the power doesn’t go out)?
A: I can’t think of just one song! I’d want music that matches the atmosphere of the occasion. Most often it’ll be something from the band Jungle or anything off of Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue.

Q: What are you most excited for audiences to see when they attend?
A: I’m excited for audiences to see how the true, wild, and exaggerated, versions of these characters begin to reveal themselves the longer they stay in the dark.

11/04/2026

Meet the Cast of CAST - Ariana Gaelan Ortmann (Black Comedy)

“Bringing another powerful performance to life on the CAST stage, Ariana plays the debutante Carol Melkitt in Black Comedy. While Carol is a very different personality from the vengeful Queen Margaret in Richard III - Ariana’s most recent role with CAST - Ariana’s performance is no less electric! (no pun intended). You can see it for yourself at the Natti-Wilsky Theater in Gloucester from November 5th-8th and 12th-15th. Thurs-Sat. shows are at 7:30pm with Sun. matinees at 3pm. Tickets can be found on www.gloucesterstage.com”

Q: What has been your favorite role to date?
A: I think I would have to say Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing and Viola in Twelfth Night. I’m a huge Shakespeare girl!

Q: What has been the most challenging part of this role for you?
A: I would honestly say being on stage the whole time, and meshing that with getting the lines down and the pace of the show.

Q: With all the exaggerated personalities in the show, is there any aspect of your character that you feel you can relate to?
A: Carol has good taste aesthetically and I must say, I’m along those lines too! But in other ways, she is very clear and affectionate about the people she cares about, but she also has a backbone. When she is wronged, she stands up for herself.

Q: What is an out-of-context line from the show that you enjoy?
A: “We want a little man … Well they can’t all have flu?”

Q: What song are you putting on when you’re having guests over (provided that the power doesn’t go out)?
A: Out of character: Amy Winehouse, Florence & The Machine, and The Beatles. In character: The Beatles (You’ll get the reference later.)

Q: What are you most excited for audiences to see when they attend?
A: The wildness and individuality of all the characters and how they all interact with each other. I am also curious to see what the audience finds most funny.

11/02/2026

“Meet the Cast of CAST - Ian Owens (Black Comedy)

Another veteran of the CAST stage, audiences may recognize Ian as Launce from CAST’s prior production of The Two Gentleman of Verona (also directed by Who Ate the Cheetos? director Billy Lewand!) Though his role as antique fanatic Harold Gorringe in Black Comedy is less punk-rock then Launce, Ian’s comedic performance is still as punchy as ever! You can see Ian at the Natti-Wilsky Theater in Gloucester from November 5th-8th and 12th-15th. Thurs-Sat. shows are at 7:30pm with Sun. matinees at 3pm. Tickets can be found on www.gloucesterstage.com

Q: What has been your favorite role to date?
A: Harold Gorringe, hands down. He’s well-bred, playful, and emotive but also highly strung, self-righteous and dangerously vindictive.

Q: What has been the most challenging part of this role for you?
A: Capturing Harold’s over-the-top shrieking outrage while maintaining a Lancashire accent.

Q: With all the exaggerated personalities in the show, is there any aspect of your character that you feel you can relate to?
A: The rudeness and vulgarity in some people today is indeed beyond belief, but Harold and I rise above it.

Q: What is an out-of-context line from the show that you enjoy?
A: “You could either be a good artist or a chic fake.” Every artist has to make this choice.

Q: What song are you putting on when you’re having guests over (provided that the power doesn’t go out)?
A: Since 2017, “Silent Majority” by Nickelback

Q: What are you most excited for audiences to see when they attend?
A: The ability to see in the dark and be blinded in the light.

11/02/2026

Meet the Cast of CAST - Kavika Babson (Black Comedy)

Kavika returns to CAST following his performance in Twelfth Night. As the philosophical German electrician Schuppanzigh, Kavika brings both light and dark (and serious and ridiculous!) to his performance in Black Comedy. Unsure what we mean? You’ll have to see for yourself at the Natti-Wilsky Theater in Gloucester from November 5th-8th and 12th-15th. Thurs-Sat. shows are at 7:30pm with Sun. matinees at 3pm. Tickets can be found on www.gloucesterstage.com

Q: What has been your favorite role to date?
A: Mr. Antrobus from The Skin Of Our Teeth

Q: What has been the most challenging part of this role for you?
A: The hardest part has been learning a German accent.

Q: With all the exaggerated personalities in the show, is there any aspect of your character that you feel you can relate to?
A: I find that we share a similar grandiloquence with saying big words to sound more interesting.

Q: What is an out-of-context line from the show that you enjoy?
A: My favorite line in the play is one of the Colonel’s - “I don’t understand anything that’s going on in this room!”

Q: What song are you putting on when you’re having guests over (provided that the power doesn’t go out)?
A: I find the best background music to be reggae, so either Lucky Dube or Bob Marley.

Q: What are you most excited for audiences to see when they attend?
A: I’m very excited to see how they react to my insane lines.

10/31/2026

Meet the Cast of CAST - Cathryn Clark (Black Comedy)

We are thrilled to have Cathryn return to CAST with her role as the easily frightened Mrs. Furnival in Black Comedy. While you can likely find Cathryn playing violin with her strings group outside of the theater, you’ll be able to see her energetic performance at the Natti-Wilsky Theater in Gloucester from November 5th-8th and 12th-15th. Thurs-Sat. shows are at 7:30pm with Sun. matinees at 3pm. Tickets can be found at gloucesterstage.com!

Q: What has been your favorite role to date?
A: I think Miss Furnival will have been my favorite role, once we get it all figured out. I think I’m one of those people who likes theater for that possibility: the rest of life being harder to understand.Before ‘Black Comedy’ my favorite role was in an American/Chekov-ish play with a happy ending, written by others and myself in Nick Neyeloff’s play-writing class and performed via Scribble at Movement Arts Gloucester (MAGMA.)

Q: What has been the most challenging part of this role for you?
A: The most challenging part of ‘Black Comedy’ might be the odd sentence structures and how similar some of the shorter lines are to one another, and of course figuring out where to be when saying them.

Q: With all the exaggerated personalities in the show, is there any aspect of your character that you feel you can relate to?
A: Absolutely. I love how Miss Furnival is obsessed with her father. And how she gets her experiences across via dialogue. I also love how she loosens up, and I’m really enjoying her trajectory. It’s like a literary puzzle.

Q: What is an out-of-context line from the show that you enjoy?
A: At this point, my favorite lines are all from Schuppanzigh.

Q: What song are you putting on when you are having guests over (provided that the power doesn’t go out)?
A: At Thanksgiving we usually listen to Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’. I like American fiddle music, rock and roll (currently The Strokes and I love the rock opera, Hair) and Bach.

Q: What are you most excited for audiences to see when they attend?
A: I’m most excited for the audience to laugh and feel happy. I LOVE the catharsis of theater.

10/31/2026

Meet the Cast of CAST - Mark Schulte (Black Comedy)

Returning audience members may recognize Mark from CAST’s spring production of Richard III, where he performed the dual roles of the Ghost of Henry VI and the murderer Tyrell. Now, he is back with CAST as the no-nonsense Colonel Melkitt in Black Comedy. Mark’s performance can be seen at the Natti-Wilski Theater in Gloucester from November 5th-8th and 12th-15th. Thurs-Sat. shows are at 7:30pm with Sun. matinees at 3pm. Tickets can be found on www.gloucesterstage.com

Q: What has been your favorite role to date?
A: Hamlet

Q: What has been the most challenging part of this role for you?
A: Pretending to be in the dark when I can actually see everything quite clearly.

Q: With all the exaggerated personalities in the show, is there any aspect of your character that you feel you can relate to?
A: At a time when our world is highly volatile and unpredictable, and the rules of engagement are fluid (to put it politely), the Colonel’s clearly defined code of ethics and his old world chivalry are a balm to my troubled heart.

Q: What is an out-of-context line from the show that you enjoy?
A: I’ve always assumed there was more than a geographic closeness between us, but I was obviously mistaken.”

Q: What song are you putting on when you’re having guests over (provided that the power doesn’t go out?)
A: “Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” by Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole (aka Braddah IZ)

Q: What are you most excited for audiences to see when they attend?
A: The entire acting ensemble (along with the backstage crew) creating an evening of memorable hilarity by holding the mirror up to nature with seamless precision and seemingly effortless aplomb.

10/31/2026

Meet the Cast of CAST - Sophia Mustone (Black Comedy)

We are so excited to have Sophia Mustone making her CAST debut as Clea in Black Comedy! You can catch Sophia’s performance at the Natti-Wilsky Theater in Gloucester from November 5th-8th and 12th-15th. Thurs-Sat. shows are at 7:30pm with Sun. matinees at 3pm. Tickets can be found on www.gloucesterstage.com

Q: With all the exaggerated personalities in the show, is there any aspect of your character that you feel you can relate to?

A: I find Clea’s comfort in chaos, glamour, and playfulness quite relatable. Along with haunting the men from my past.

Q: What is an out-of-context line from the show that you enjoy?

A: “Oh she’s just some Knightsbridge candyfloss, a couple of licks and you’ve had her!”

Q: What song are you putting on when you’re having guests over (provided that the power doesn’t go out)?

A: In character, “Le Temps de L’amour” by Francoise Hardy. As myself, “Moon Rocks” by The Talking Heads.

10/30/2026

Meet the Cast of CAST - Mark Schulte (Black Comedy)

Returning audience members may recognize Mark from CAST's spring production of Richard III, where he performed the dual roles of the Ghost of Henry VI and the murderer Tyrell. Now, he is back with CAST as the no-nonsense Colonel Melkitt in Black Comedy. Mark's performance can be seen at the Natti-Wilski Theater in Gloucester from November 5th-8th and 12th-15th. Thurs-Sat. shows are at 7:30pm with Sun. matinees at 3pm. Tickets can be found on www.gloucesterstage.com

Q: What has been your favorite role to date?
A: Hamlet

Q: What has been the most challenging part of this role for you?
A: Pretending to be in the dark when I can actually see everything quite clearly.

Q: With all the exaggerated personalities in the show, is there any aspect of your character that you feel you can relate to?
A: At a time when our world is highly volatile and unpredictable, and the rules of engagement are fluid (to put it politely), the Colonel’s clearly defined code of ethics and his old world chivalry are a balm to my troubled heart.

Q: What is an out-of-context line from the show that you enjoy?
A: I’ve always assumed there was more than a geographic closeness between us, but I was obviously mistaken.”

Q: What song are you putting on when you're having guests over (provided that the power doesn't go out?)
A: “Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” by Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole (aka Braddah IZ)

Q: What are you most excited for audiences to see when they attend?
A: The entire acting ensemble (along with the backstage crew) creating an evening of memorable hilarity by holding the mirror up to nature with seamless precision and seemingly effortless aplomb.

10/29/2026

Meet the Cast of CAST - Sophia Mustone (Black Comedy)

We are so excited to have Sophia Mustone making her CAST debut as Clea in Black Comedy! You can catch Sophia's performance at the Natti-Wilsky Theater in Gloucester from November 5th-8th and 12th-15th. Thurs-Sat. shows are at 7:30pm with Sun. matinees at 3pm. Tickets can be found on www.gloucesterstage.com

Q: With all the exaggerated personalities in the show, is there any aspect of your character that you feel you can relate to?

A: I find Clea's comfort in chaos, glamour, and playfulness quite relatable. Along with haunting the men from my past.

Q: What is an out-of-context line from the show that you enjoy?

A: "Oh she's just some Knightsbridge candyfloss, a couple of licks and you've had her!"

Q: What song are you putting on when you're having guests over (provided that the power doesn't go out)?

A: In character, "Le Temps de L'amour" by Francoise Hardy. As myself, "Moon Rocks" by The Talking Heads.

10/25/2026

A non-profit community theatre group devoted to works of Shakespeare & other notable playwrights. CAST programs are funded in part by a grant from the Gloucester Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Address

Gloucester, MA
01930

Website

https://www.capeannshakespearetroupe.com/, https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=3DBRR8Y7NWVF2

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