Door Shakespeare

06/19/2026

Anyone catch this familiar face on the jimmyawards in 2023? We are so excited to welcome Will Gonzalez to the garden this summer as he makes his professional theater debut!

Read more about this rising star in his bio below, then head to doorshakespeare.com to get your tickets for LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST — beginning in just ten days!

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Will Gonzalez is an actor from Mundelein Ill., and is making his Door Shakespeare debut. Will will be starting his senior year of BFA acting at Ball State University in the fall. He has had the privilege of playing roles such as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Michael Starkwedder in The Unexpected Guest, as well as roles in the short films Sizzle, Popobawa, and 7:42. He loves working with heightened text, dialects and impressions, and stage combat. He is inspired to work harder and be better by his Mom and Dad, his professors and classmates from school, and his best friends from his hometown. He is honored and excited for the opportunity to perform in such a beautiful place.

06/14/2026

Leading the charge for her fourth season as Producing Artistic Director is Amy Ensign — an artist who has called Door County home for over two decades.

Pictured above with Suzanne Graff, founder and former Executive Director of the company, Amy has played a major role in Door Shakespeare since her arrival on the peninsula. Read more about Amy’s career in her bio below, then head to the link in our bio to get your tickets for our 2026 Season — running June 29 thru August 22!

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Amy Ensign (she/her) began her work with Door Shakespeare 19 years ago as Elmire in Tartuffe and Ceres in The Tempest. Select Door Shakespeare credits include Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Julia in The Rivals, Jane in Pride and Prejudice, and Rosalind in 2012’s As You Like It. A Door County-based actor, director, and theater educator, Amy is one of the original members of the Door Four, and has directed youth theater programs for Sevastopol School, Third Avenue PlayWorks, and Door Shakespeare. Amy holds a BA in theater from the University of Washington and studied with the Suzuki Company of Toga-Mura (SCOT) in Japan. A voyaging sailor and underwater hockey player, Amy lives in Sturgeon Bay with her husband and son. Amy dedicates this season to her teachers Jim Dotson, Craig Little, and Sheila Sabrey Saperstein.

📸: 1 - Suzanne Graff and Amy Ensign in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE; 2 - Amy Ensign

06/13/2026

Making her Door Shakespeare debut as the iconic Lady Bracknell in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (and as a slew of other funny folks LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST) is the one and only — Elizabeth Dowling!

Scroll down to read more about Elizabeth, then head over to doorshakespeare.com to get all of the juicy details on our 2026 Season.

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Elizabeth Dowling is an actor and teaching artist in Chicago. Credits include In Pursuit Of, Sub Rosa Theatre; Fear & Misery in the Third Reich, Haven; Short Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet, Chicago Shakespeare; Deathtrap, Drury Lane; A Perfect Ganesh, Eclipse; Agreed Upon Fictions, 16th Street; The Music Man, Paramount; The Exonerated, Next Theatre; Enron, TimeLine; Love’s Labors Lost, As You Like It, Henry V, All’s Well, MacBeth, King Lear, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Taming of the Shrew, Lakeside Shakespeare; Meet Me In St. Louis, Drury Lane Water Tower; Don’t Dress for Dinner, Metropolis; Teapot Scandals, Porchlight; Pontypool, Strawdog; South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof, MacHadyn; and The Talisman Ring, Queen Lucia, Lifeline; and on TV in Chicago Fire. All love to Hank and Callie.

06/12/2026

Returning to Door Shakespeare for the first time since the early 2010s is Marcus Cunningham! If you’ve been around for a minute, you may remember him as William (that iconic shepherd?!?) from our 2012 production of AS YOU LIKE IT.

Read a little bit about what Marcus has been up over the last few years, then head over to the link in our bio to get your tickets for our 2026 Season.

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Marcus Cunningham is elated to return to Door Shakespeare! He last worked with the company as an apprentice back in 2012. Now, the stars align and he gets to, once again, spend his summer in beautiful Door County. An actor and teaching artist, Marcus has worked with several regional companies including Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Skylight Music Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and the Craiova International Shakespeare Festival in Romania. A proud Wisconsinite, Marcus was born and raised in Beloit and received his BFA in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Love to his unbelievably supportive family and friends. Thank you to everyone who loves and supports the arts!

📸: 1 - Marcus Cunningham; 2 - Marcus Cunningham, Kristin Hammargren, Debra Babich in AS YOU LIKE IT (2012).

06/11/2026

Fresh off of understudying the world premiere of WINDFALL at Steppenwolf Theatre Company is Robert Hunter Bry — making his Door Shakespeare debut as Algernon in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and the King in LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST!

Read all about Robert’s impressive acting career, then head over to our website to check out the rest of this season’s incredibly talented company — onstage in Baileys Harbor from June 29 to August 22.

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Robert Hunter Bry is a Chicago based actor and is thrilled to be making his debut with Door Shakespeare. Chicago theater credits include: Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, City Lit Theatre, Redtwist Theatre, ShawChicago, and more. Regionally he has performed with: Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Film credits include: The Fabulists, Ghost Bat Productions; Weekend in Rio, Rose Gold Productions; and Painbroker, Solid Scope Productions. Robert is represented by Shirley Hamilton Talent and is an alum of Illinois State University’s undergraduate acting program. Robert would like to thank Door Shakespeare as well as his amazing family and friends for their endless support! Insta:

06/09/2026

Back for his third summer in the Garden is our Managing Producer, Gabriel Anderle. Audiences may remember him as Silvius from our 2023 production of AS YOU LIKE IT or as the spry young person who gave the super energetic curtain speech before last season’s TWELFTH NIGHT.

Read a little more about Gabe’s life beyond Door Shakespeare in his bio below, then head over to our website to grab tickets for our 2026 Season — running June 29 thru August 22 in the Garden at Björklunden.

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Gabriel is an actor, writer, and creative leader passionate about leaving spaces better than he found them. He is just jazzed to return to Door Shakespeare for his third season under the maple. Wisconsin: Ironbound, Forward Theater Company; A Christmas Carol, Our Town, Milwaukee Rep; Goosebumps the Musical, Animal Farm, First Stage Children's Theater. Chicago: Theater of the Mind, Holiday, A Christmas Carol, Ashland Avenue, The Antiquities, Highway Patrol, Goodman Theatre; Judgment Day, Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Love's Labor's Lost, Foaming @ the Mouth Festival, independently produced; Merchandise Associate at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Gabe trained with the UMN / Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program, Milwaukee Rep's Professional Training Institute, and Shakespeare's Globe. For Team Anderle, the theater makers and shakers that inspire him endlessly. Learn more: gabrielanderle.com

📸 : 1 - Gabriel Anderle as Silvius in AS YOU LIKE IT (2023) directed by Leda Hoffman, photo by Heidi Hodges Photography; 2 - Gabriel Anderle

06/07/2026

Please give a warm Door County “Welcome BACK” to Christian Davis Aldridge — an actor you may recognize from Third Avenue PlayWorks’ production of A GIFT OF THE MAGI.

Check out Christian’s bio below, then swipe over to the link on our profile to meet the rest of the performers bringing Door Shakespeare’s 2026 Season to life.

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Christian Davis Aldridge is delighted to be joining Door Shakespeare for the first time. A 2016 alumnus of Carthage College, he has been performing in Chicago and Wisconsin for the last decade. He owes his thanks to an incredible support system of friends and family, especially his wife Corrie (who has graciously allowed him to frolic in the woods all summer). Local production credits include: A Gift of the Magi, Third Avenue PlayWorks; ‘Neath the Hills of Bastogne, Sunstone Studios and Milwaukee Chamber Theater; and Macbeth, Bard and Bourbon. Recent Chicago credits include: Constellations, The Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture; Bells and Whispers; Dead Reckoning Theatre Co., and The Witch, Richard II, A Winter’s Tale, and Measure for Measure; The Shakespeare Project of Chicago.

06/06/2026

Directing LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST (Shakespeare’s wittiest, wordiest play) is one of the midwest’s most experienced wizards of voice and text — Eva Breneman!

With 10 years at APT under her belt, Eva is no stranger to making theatrical magic in the woods of Wisconsin and we are so excited to share her work with Door County audiences.

Read more about Eva in her bio below, then be sure to grab your tickets for LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST — running Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from June 29 thru August 22!

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Eva Breneman is a director, voice and text coach in Chicago. Directing: As You Like It, The Winter’s Tale, Montana Shakespeare; Uncle Vanya, Winter Words/APT; Hope, Timepiece, Timeline Theatre; Nine Parts of Desire, New York and Edinburgh
Fringe. Wisconsin voice and text: Ten seasons at APT; Romeo and Juliet, Dial M for Murder, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Milwaukee Rep; Boswell, The Children, Next Act Theatre; Romeo and Juliet, Theatre Lila. Select Chicago voice and text: As You Like It, Translations, Writers Theatre; Heartbreak House, Marriott Lincolnshire); Primary Trust (Goodman Theatre). Broadway: Airline Highway (Samuel Friedman Theatre. Off-Broadway: Boswell, 59E59. Regional: The Chinese Lady, Denver Center; Love’s Labour’s Lost, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville.

06/04/2026

We are over the moon to (re)introduce our audiences to one of the founders of our beloved company and the director of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST — Suzanne Graff!

Returning to the Garden for the first time in over 15 years, Suzanne is bringing big choices, big energy, and big fun to this “bon-bon” of a play. Read more about what she’s been up to in her bio, then head to the link in our bio to check out the rest of our 2026 Company!

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Suzanne Graff is thrilled to return to Door Shakespeare to direct. As the company’s former Executive Director, along with her husband, Artistic Director, Jerry Gomes, she performed and/or directed dozens of productions including The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Tartuffe and The Tempest. Prior to that, Suzanne enjoyed several seasons with Northern Sky Theater, originating roles in several plays including Bone Dance. Off-Broadway Suzanne appeared in Twelfth Night and in Zombies from the Beyond. She also toured with the National Shakespeare Company. At home in the Twin Cities, she has been directing and teaching theater arts and performed with The Old Log and History Theatres. Recently she returned to Milwaukee’s Skylight Music Theatre for The Spitfire Grill as Hannah. Suzanne is a graduate of Indiana University and The National Shakespeare Conservatory.

📸 - 1: Door Shakespeare 1996 Company (Suzanne in the second row, third from the left); 2: Suzanne Graff

05/22/2026

Last week, Business Manager, Lexi Praxl, sat down with Door Shakespeare founding member, Suzanne Graff, to discuss Graff's history with the theatre and her return to direct "The Importance of Being Earnest" for our 2026 season.

Check out the article on the Peninsula Pulse website:

by LEXI PRAXL Suzanne Graff, one of Door Shakespeare’s founding artists, returns to the Garden this season to direct Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Graff was at the […]