KING HENRY II

Tim Grimm began acting professionally more than forty years ago. After MFA studies at the University of Michigan, he did a season at The Cleveland Playhouse, and then onto work in Chicago at The Goodman Theatre (The Rover, and Mill Fire- which moved to New York with the Women’s Project). From there, he was cast as the male lead in the tv pilot for Steel Magnolias, and moved to LA. He co-starred in numerous Movies of the Week and the mini-series Pandora’s Clock, before being cast as a series regular in Reasonable Doubts, opposite Marlee Matlin. He was a recurring character on JAG and Turks, and has appeared in more than a dozen feature films most notably opposite Harrison Ford, in Clear and Present Danger, and most recently with Richard Jenkins in The Last Shift. In the mid-nineties, he moved his family back to rural southern Indiana, and began working extensively with The Indiana Repertory Theatre, where he appeared in many productions, including an acclaimed- The Grapes of Wrath- for which he also composed songs and music. That production moved to Syracuse Stage in New York, and eventually to Asolo Rep in Sarasota. Grimm has starred in three productions of Heather McDonald’s, An Almost Holy Picture — Centre Stage in Baltimore, The Indiana Repertory Theatre and The Chester Theatre in the Berkshires. The Boston Globe described his performance as, “A quiet miracle”. Grimm continued work in Chicago, with three new plays (Jeffrey Sweet) at Victory Gardens Theatre— one of which Bluff, moved to The Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis (Alissa Branch was also in that production). Grimm also worked at Steppenwolf Theatre (The Memory of Water and The Berlin Circle). Grimm is a noted folk-americana singer-songwriter, with 15 albums to his credit. He has had the #1 Song of the Year on Folk Radio for five of the past ten years. He tours the US and Europe yearly and also founded Scotland Folk Tours— small group Tours in Scotland that highlight music, history and culture.

ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE

ALISSA BRANCH is a theatrical and visual artist based in Norman, OK, where she serves as tenured Associate Professor of Acting in the Helmerich School of Drama and created the program’s advanced Shakespeare curriculum. Favorite acting credits include Oklahoma Shakespeare: Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Queen Hermione in The Winter’s Tale. Oklahoma City Theatre Company: Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Phoenix Theatre: Claire in Boston Marriage, Catherine in Proof. Favorite directing credits include Oklahoma Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice). Phoenix Theatre: The Circumference of a Squirrel. Butler University: The Dreaming of The Bones (with subsequent tour of Southern Ireland). OU University Theatre: As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Arcadia, Summer and Smoke, Clybourne Park, Mary Stuart, Julius Caesar; OU Lab Theatre: Proof, Miss Evers’ Boys (which won the KCACTF Region 6 Director’s Choice Award, and Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa), 9 Parts of Desire (KCACTF Region 6 Director’s Choice Award). Alissa also directed the regional premiere of the new play Shakespeare’s Other Women, which received Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival awards for Outstanding Work with Heightened Text, and Excellence in Ensemble Acting. Alissa recently created and released a 12-episode video master class for the online learning company The Great Courses Plus called “Shakespeare: From Page to Stage” and in 2026 she will lead two small-group tours of Shakespeare’s England for The Great Courses Journeys, providing lecture-demonstrations at sites in London and Stratford-Upon-Avon (www.thegreatcoursesjourneys.com/shakespeare). Alissa shares a 100-year-old prairie cottage with her partner, actor and singer-songwriter (and our King Henry) Tim Grimm. Together, Alissa and Tim also lead yearly small group music tours of Scotland with Tim’s company Scotland Folk Tours. www.alissabranch.com

ALAIS

Anjali Radha is an actor from Houston, Texas, training at Oklahoma City University. She recently appeared as Wife in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Lyric Theatre. Past roles include Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lucy in Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, and Medea in Medea: A Devised Tale.

PHILLIP

Joshua Murray is from McKinney, TX and recently graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a BFA in Acting. He's very excited to perform again and at OSP and loved getting to work with his cast mates, and is very thankful to have been blessed with getting to know this amazing group of talented actors! Some of his credits include: (OKC Rep) The Brothers Size (u/s Ogun, Oshoosi, and Elegba), The Antelope Party (u/s Ben), (OSP) Shakespeare In Love (William Shakespeare), Much Ado About Nothing (Borachio), Hamlet (Guildenstern), Emma (John Knightley), Born With Teeth (u/s Will and Marlowe) (OU) Red Bike (Ensemble), Pippin (Player with Fire/Ensemble).

RICHARD

Originally from Los Angeles, California. Graduate from the University of Oklahoma with a BFA in drama. Credits include Oklahoma Shakespeare: Born with Teeth, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Much ado about Nothing, Midsummer Night’s dream, Christmas Cracker, Hamlet, Emma, and Shakespeare in Love. University: Burn This, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Great Expectations, and Red Bike Film: Ultraviolet, The Squatter, Waiting on You, and Unkind. Insta: @Justinmichaelmarlow

JOHN

Granger Lusk is an Actor and Educator from Houston, TX. He is currently pursuing his BFA in Acting from the University of Oklahoma and cannot wait to graduate in May '26. Some of his previous works include William, As You Like It; Joe, Waiting for Lefty; and Adrian, oh, to be pure again (collegiate premier) at the University of Oklahoma. You can see him next as the director of The Effect by Lucy Prebble this spring at OU. Granger would like to thank his family and friends for their constant support. As well as the cast, crew, and creative team for this amazing opportunity. BOOMER SOONER! @grangerlusk

GEOFFREY

Ethan Walker is a BFA Performance major at the University of Oklahoma's Helmerich School of Drama. Previous credits include: Julius Caesar, Waiting for Lefty, Radium Girls, and Marie Antoinette (University of Oklahoma) Lascaux, D.D.M.C. (Co.llective Arts Productions) and Twelfth Night (Shakespeare Everywhere). Ethan is thrilled to be making his Oklahoma Shakespeare debut, and wants to thank his family and his friends for their unwavering support and love!

UNDERSTUDY

Meghan Gosse is a graduating senior at Oklahoma City University, and a member of the inaugural Apprentice Company at Oklahoma Shakespeare. Her recent credits include Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Legacy of Light, and She Stoops to Conquer. She would like to thank her friends for all their support.

UNDERSTUDY

Denton is from Kansas City, MO and is a recent graduate from Oklahoma City University. This is his fourth show at OK Shakes. Recent credits include Loves Labours Lost, The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Life Sucks, and Legacy of Light. Special thanks to friends and family.

DIRECTOR

SETH GORDON is a huge fan of Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, and is pleased to direct a production here for the first time. He is a Professor of Performance at the University of Oklahoma. For OU, he has directed Ms. Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Mad Forest, Radium Girls, and most recently Waiting for Lefty. He will direct A Christmas Carol there later in the fall. He teaches directing and theatre management in a BFA program, theatre management in an MA program, and he is in the process of creating an MFA in Directing. Before joining OU in 2019, he served as Associate Artistic Director at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and the Cleveland Play House, and Associate Producer at Primary Stages in New York. In St. Louis, he created Ignite!, a new play festival. At the Cleveland Play House, he created FusionFest, a multi-disciplinary arts festival that had a new play festival in it; and at Primary Stages, he created the New American Writers Group. He has directed plays at these three theatres, Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston, TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AK, Shakespeare and Company in Massachusetts, Syracuse Stage, the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, the St. Lou Fringe Festival, Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, American Stage in Florida, and in New York, at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Theatre of the New City, and countless other places. He directed the Arabic premiere of Our Town in Cairo. He received the 2004 and 2006 Northern Ohio Live Award, the 2014 Houston Theatre Award, and numerous nominations by the Houston Theatre Awards and the St. Louis Theatre Critics Circle Awards for his direction. He serves as a consultant for theatres across the United States, and on the Board of Directors at Oklahoma City Rep. He received his training at the High School of Performing Arts in New York and Carnegie Mellon University. His book, “Crossroads in the American Theatre: New Leaders in a New Age,” will be published by Smith and Kraus in 2025. He considers himself a lucky man.

SCENIC DESIGN

Edward has designed for Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Atlantic Theater Company, The Barrow Group, Cherry Lane Theater, Goodspeed Opera House, Kansas City Rep, LaMama, Magic Theatre, Martha Graham Dance Company, Oklahoma City Repertory Theater, San Francisco Playhouse, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, The New Group, TheatreSquared, Virginia Stage Company, Weston Playhouse, Westport Country Playhouse, and Yale Repertory Theatre, among many others. Edward is an advocate and consultant on sustainability in the performing arts. He’s a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and Wingspace Theatrical Design. He graduated of University of Michigan and Yale School of Drama.

COSTUME DESIGN

LLOYD CRACKNELL (Costume Designer) originally from Cambridge England, is the associate professor of Costume Design and resident Costume Designer at the University of Oklahoma. Lloyd’s career includes both costume and fashion design, working for prestigious design houses including The Emanuels and Versace. Lloyd’s designs have been seen in London, New York, Paris, Milan, and South America. He was invited to exhibit his costume designs at the World Creativity Forum in Cardiff, Wales in 2010. Lloyd has costume designed in all genres of the performing arts, including drama, opera, classical ballet, modern dance and musical theatre. He has designed costumes for over a hundred productions, including over forty for OU’s University Theatre.

      Cracknell’s regional design credits include Regional premieres of Heisenberg; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Let The Right One In, World premieres: Haydn’s The Seasons at Haydntage, Austria. Film and Television: P.B.S. Special Early Music Program; and Film Distance Vision, Francis Ford Coppola, Director.

     Awards for Professor Cracknell include the USITT-SW Oscar Brockett Teaching Award (2023), the Irene and Julian. J Rothbaum Professor of Excellence in the Arts Award (2020), and the USITT-SW Mildred and Glen Martin Jr. Award for Outstanding Service. Other awards and nominations include: DFW Theatre Critics Forum Award-Best Design Team for a Season (2015, 2017); Theatre Jones Best Costume Design Runner-up Award (2015); Kennedy Center American College Theater Award (2010), Region VI National Partners in American Theatre KCACTF Award (2010). In 2021, Lloyd received the Broadway World Oklahoma Award for Best Costume Design of a Play or Musical (Professional) for Pride and Prejudice (Oklahoma Shakespeare.)

LIGHTING DESIGN

Clara Starkwell is a Lighting Designer who is passionate about storytelling through the expression of color and form. She enjoys painting and sees lighting as an extension of that art form coming to life. She has been honored to be a co-recipient of KC/ACTF National Barbizon Award for Excellence in Lighting Design for her Woe Is Me lighting design. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Clara has worked with a diverse group of artists and directors. She interned as an Assistant Lighting Designer for LA Opera’s 2017-19 seasons. She received her Associate of Arts and Emerging Theatre Technology certificate at Citrus College. Then after achieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatrical Design and Production from Oklahoma City University, with an emphasis in Lighting Design and Technology. (clarawiebe.com)