Robinson J. Cyprian (DR. PURGON)

Born in Hammond, Louisiana, raised in Trenton, New Jersey; Robinson is ecstatic to return back to the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival! A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Robinson’s recent performance credits include Henry IV Part 1, Romeo & Juliet, and A Streetcar Named Desire. He is also co-founder of RoBenHood Productions based primarily in the Northshore. Thanks to my family and friends. I love you, JB. 

Yvette Bourgeois (LOUISON)

That’s my wife^. She’s a NOLA native and quite the talent. You might’ve seen her last in The Importance of Being Earnest at Le Petit, or on TV in LCMC Health’s Mardi Gras Commercial (FYI she’s not a real nurse so please stop asking her for medical advice). She’s done plenty of other stuff too, but right now I’m having difficulty remembering all of them! So here’s a few standouts: [place shows here]. Yvette would like to thank her husband, Josh Rodriguez, for writing this bio, and would also like to thank her husband for his unwavering support, and finally would like to thank her husband for all of his love and affection throughout the years. 

Ryan Hayes is thrilled to return to the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival after portraying Decius in Julius Caesar last season. He’s newish to New Orleans after 23 years in San Francisco and over 50 plays, musicals, films and commercials. Recently, he played James Tyrone in A Moon for the Misbegotten and Long Day’s Journey into Night in Ireland and California with the Eugene O’Neill Foundation who said, “Ryan has established himself as a key figure in O’Neill’s theatrical performances.” He has directed and written short plays and created a one man show he adapted from the poetry of Walt Whitman entitled Boys Together Clinging, which he performed extensively in San Francisco and beyond. He acted as Don Kirshner in Beautiful- The Carol King Musical at Le Petit Theatre where he also performed in Let the Right One In and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. 

Instagram: uncle_ryry

John Jabaley (DR. DIAFOIRUS)

John Jabaley is delighted to return to the NOSF, having appeared last season in Julius Caesar. Also appeared locally in The Diary of Anne Frank (WWII Museum) and Orpheus Descending (TWTC), regionally at New Stage in Noises Off and The Exact Center of the Universe, and in L.A. with the Will Geer, SF/LA, Theatre Banshee and more. Film/TV appearances include Into the Wild, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Preacher, NCIS:New Orleans, Blackbird, Treme, Queen Sugar and the upcoming People We Meet on Vacation. He is an MFA Graduate of CalArts. Much love to Erika, Hannah and Isaac.

Alexandria Miles (ANGELIQUE)

Alexandria Miles is a New Orleans based actor who has earned her MFA in theatre performance at the University of New Orleans. Some of her favorite acting credits include Romeo and Juliet (New Orleans Shakespeare Festival), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The NOLA Project), The Family Line (Goat in the Road Productions), Redux (The Radical Buffoons), and RapUnzel (The Radical Buffoons). For more info, visit alexandriamilesacting.com.

Robert A. Mitchell (BERALDE)

Robert A. Mitchell cannot express how happy he is to return to the New Orleans Shakespeare stage, where he has performed in Twelfth Night, and Henry IV, Part 1. Recently, you may have seen him in TWTC’s Orpheus Descending or A Streetcar Named Desire, or caught something he directed with his own small company, The NonProphet Theatre Company-South. Thanks to both of my Directors for the opportunity, and, as always, to my Bunny, for giving me up to the theatre.

Phillip Andrew Monnett (THOMAS)

Phillip Andrew Monnett is excited to make his New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane debut. A Chicago based actor, Monnett's most recent credits include Light Switch (Open Space Arts), which earned him a Joseph Jefferson Award for Performance by an Actor in a Principal Role, and the films HEARTBURN, Appealing Me, Surprise Visit, and Digestif, the latter premiering at Austin Film Festival. Monnett is a proud alumnus of Interlochen Arts Camp and The University of Illinois' School of Theatre. 

ALIX PAIGE (BELINE)

Alix is ecstatic to be making her New Orleans Shakespeare Festival debut! Nat’l Tours: Irving Berlin’s I Love a Piano (Ginger) and Cabaret (Sally) u/s. Regional credits: Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd (Summer Lyric Theatre), Aldonza in Man of La Mancha (Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks), Eliza in My Fair Lady (CRT) and Lucille in Parade (The Secret Theatre), Belinda in Noises Off (Le Petite Theatre), Babette in John Tartaglia’s Beauty and the Beast (Maltz Jupiter Theatre). Alix received her B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from the University of Miami. Proud AEA member, mom of Edelen and Wiley and Breast Cancer survivor! You can see Alix in Company at Summer Lyric Theatre next month! For more visit: YouTube.com/alixpaige | Instagram: @alixpaigeonstage

Jessica Podewell (TOINETTE)

Jessica received her BFA from Webster University and MFA from Ohio State University. She has worked professionally in theatres throughout Austin, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, and New York.  She is currently Artistic Director of the children's theatre, The Patchwork Players.

Doug Spearman (ARGAN)

Doug is very happy and honored to be making his first appearance with The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane. Some of Doug's other New Orleans shows include Vanya in the Crescent City Stage production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and their 2024 production of A Doll's House as Krogstadt. In 2023, Doug made his New Orleans Directorial debut with Sweet Bird of Youth for The Tennessee Williams Theater Company. Some of his other favorite roles are John The Baptist in Salome, Lance Corporal Dawson in A Few Good Men, and the god Dionysus in The Bacchae at the Edinburough Fringe Festival. He has been nominated for two Emmy Awards in Directing and Doug also spent thirty years writing and directing hundreds of TV spots for NBC, CBS, ABC, and E! as well as two feature films under his own banner Hot Guys with Guns and From Zero to I Love You. Doug currently teaches a scene study class for actors two nights a week at a very charming old fire house in The Marigny and at Loyola University here in New Orleans. 

Brandon Sutton (CLEANTE)

Brandon Sutton is excited to join the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival in The Imaginary Invalid and A Midsummer Night's Dream, marking his return to the New Orleans stage for the first time in many years. His television credits include notable roles in Blackbird (Apple TV+), Seal Team (Paramount+), Ordinary Joe (NBC), and The Crossover (Disney+). You can also play as Brandon aka Prince in the video game NBA2K24. He will be seen in the upcoming films Faces of Death and Madea's Destination Wedding (Netflix). He holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans and trained at the British American Dramatic Academy in London. Brandon is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA. He would like to thank his family for their continued love and support.

Philip Roderic Yiannopoulos (FLORID)

From Riverbend to Westwego, Philip has been lucky to perform all over his native New Orleans -- and beyond. Favorite credits include: Lucentio in Taming of the Shrew (New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane / Cripple Creek Theatre Co.), Kabe in One Flea Spare (Reed College), and Lee in True West (JPAS). He also wrote theatre criticism for NOLA Defender and worked in various capacities with the New Orleans Fringe Festival. Philip was a proud member of Cripple Creek Theatre Company for many years.