Cast Bios
Maria Porter* (Amanda Wingfield)
Maria is delighted to be making her Shaking the Tree debut. Regional: 21Ten (Madonna of the Cat), Anonymous Theatre (Potus) ,Portland Center Stage (The Importance of Being Earnest), PCS and OSF (Coriolanus), Corrib Theatre (Woman and Scarecrow), Artists Rep (True Story), Milwaukee Rep, Hangar Theatre, Hartford Stage, Kennedy Center, Bristol Valley Theatre, Virginia Stage Company. Off Broadway: Clubbed Thumb, Target Margin, Salt Theatre. Favorite roles include Lady Bracknell in Kamilah Bush’s adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest, Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard, Skryker in The Skryker, and Mary Grimm in Hal Hartley’s film Henry Fool. A long time teacher and practitioner of the Suzuki method, Maria used this work to develop an original pedagogy and create performances. Her solo and ensemble pieces, work demonstrations, and master classes have been featured at festivals and conferences in the U.S. and abroad. MFA Acting: UCSD. Thank you, CR, for your support and friendship through it all.
Kai Hynes (Tom Wingfield)
Kai Hynes is an actor, performance artist, butoh dancer, devised theatre maker, and educator. Last year he completed residencies at Shaking the Tree, the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, and Performance Works NorthWest, and presented original work at experimental art events Club Alive, Happenings, Drift, and Osmosis. Credits with Shaking the Tree include The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Family, MODELMINORITY, Forbidden Fruit, We Wrote This With You In Mind, and Dancing on the Sabbath. He is inspired by nature, magic, and play.
Sammy Rat Rios* (Laura Wingfield)
Sammy, a lover of all flora and fauna, believes in no rules. They are delighted for another opportunity to work on Shaking the Tree’s stage! Select stage credits: Dancing on the Sabbath; The Brother and the Bird; Blood Wedding (Shaking the Tree), Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really (Portland Center Stage), Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (PCS, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), Chekhov! Three Farces (21Ten Theatre), Young Americans (PCS, Pittsburgh Public Theater), Amélie; A Christmas Carol (Portland Playhouse), We’re Gonna Die (AT&T Performing Arts Center, Amphibian Stage, Shaking the Tree), In the Next Room...or the Vibrator Play (River & Rail Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Dallas Theater Center). Rios portrayed Myrna in The Cold Plunge, a radio play available on all podcast platforms, and have had staged readings of their plays No Guts and Joanie’s B’Arc with Theatre Diaspora. They compose and produce music under Rat Rios, and perform with their band Koallaby. Education: B.F.A. in Playwriting and Directing from Southern Methodist University, Conservatory Acting graduate from British American Drama Academy in London, UK. FLAWLESS VICTORY! www.ratrios.com
Jon Bolden (The Gentleman Caller)
Jon makes his fully-staged debut with Shaking the Tree Theatre, and couldn't be more pleased that it happens to be the first piece of dramatic literature he ever read — The Glass Menagerie. He thanks Angela Erb-Gentile for this early introduction to theater (high school teachers change lives!). Credits include Trigorin in The Seagull (Blinking Eye Theatre), staged readings of SALOME (Shaking the Tree), Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Shaking the Tree), Conciliation (Cornerstone Theater Company), and understudy for The Antipodes (Shaking the Tree). In 2025, his first attempt at playwriting was selected and produced as part of Epic Shorts (Fertile Ground Festival). He performs monthly and teaches improvised comedy / theater at Kickstand Comedy. Find his work and poetry at jonbolden.com
*Member of Actors' Equity Association
Creative Bios
Director & Set Designer- Samantha Van Der Merwe
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Samantha Van Der Merwe is the founding Artistic Director of Shaking the Tree Theatre. See more HERE
Stage Manager- Emily Hogan
Emily Hogan is a multi-disciplinary theater artist from Lompoc, CA. Stage Management: Salome, The Antipodes, UBU America, Forbidden Fruit, Fucking A, MODELMINORITY, Chick Fight (Shaking the Tree), What Brings You Here? (Hand2Mouth). Performance: Banned!, Memento Mori, 24H2M (Hand2Mouth), Un Pajarito Canta (Portland Revels), An Xmas Cuento Remix (Milagro), Made To Dance In Burning Buildings (Shaking the Tree). Dramaturgy: In A Different Reality She’s Clawing At The Walls (Shaking the Tree), i defy you, stars (Do It For Mead), and The Killing Fields (Orphic). Emily is a current Hand2Mouth Company Member. @emfayehogan
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Samantha Van Der Merwe is the founding Artistic Director of Shaking the Tree Theatre. See more HERE
Stage Manager- Emily Hogan
Emily Hogan is a multi-disciplinary theater artist from Lompoc, CA. Stage Management: Salome, The Antipodes, UBU America, Forbidden Fruit, Fucking A, MODELMINORITY, Chick Fight (Shaking the Tree), What Brings You Here? (Hand2Mouth). Performance: Banned!, Memento Mori, 24H2M (Hand2Mouth), Un Pajarito Canta (Portland Revels), An Xmas Cuento Remix (Milagro), Made To Dance In Burning Buildings (Shaking the Tree). Dramaturgy: In A Different Reality She’s Clawing At The Walls (Shaking the Tree), i defy you, stars (Do It For Mead), and The Killing Fields (Orphic). Emily is a current Hand2Mouth Company Member. @emfayehogan
Assistant Stage Manager- Hayley Lamsma
Hayley Lamsma (she/they) has worked as a Stage Manager in Portland and the surrounding area for the last three years and is thrilled to be back with Shaking the Tree. They have a bachelor's degree in Theatre and Writing from George Fox University and have worked with many companies including Portland Playhouse, Lakewood Theatre, Penguin Productions, and Gather Repertory, in both SM and ASM roles. Previous credits include Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous, A Christmas Carol, Dancing on the Sabbath, Nora, Maltese Falcon, Pirates of Penzance, Alabaster, Almost Maine, Blood Wedding, Twelfth Night, Forbidden Fruit, Oliver! The Musical, and Our Town. She also has varying props design credits, as well as a perpetual desire to tell stories and experience art.
Technical Director & Set Design Collaborator- Nate Raphael
Nate Raphael is the Technical Director at Shaking the Tree. Recent shows he built with Shaking
the Tree include, Dancing on the Sabbath, The Antipodes, The Brother and the Bird, We Wrote
This With You in Mind, and Blood Wedding. If he is not building sets, you can find him building
houses and furniture among other things in his free time. Nate will be attending Portland State
University for a Masters in Architecture starting this summer! Education: BA in Fine Art and
Sociology, Whitman College 2019.
Nate Raphael is the Technical Director at Shaking the Tree. Recent shows he built with Shaking
the Tree include, Dancing on the Sabbath, The Antipodes, The Brother and the Bird, We Wrote
This With You in Mind, and Blood Wedding. If he is not building sets, you can find him building
houses and furniture among other things in his free time. Nate will be attending Portland State
University for a Masters in Architecture starting this summer! Education: BA in Fine Art and
Sociology, Whitman College 2019.
Lighting Designer- Sam Kemp
Samantha "Sam" Kemp is a Portland-based creator, artist, and lighting designer for live performance. Born and raised in the tiny town of Lindenhurst, New York before moving to Las Vegas in her adolescence, Sam has always managed to weasel her way into artful spaces despite cultural pressures to stick to the status quo. Design credits include 8-Track: Sounds of the 70s and Les Misérables at The Broadway Rose,The Other Place, Athena, and Chekhov!: 3 Farces at 21ten Theatre, Waking the Witch with Renegade Opera, Racecar Racecar Racecar at Artists Repertory Theatre, Tiger Style! with Profile Theatre, and Recent Tragic Events with Third Rail Repertory Theatre. She is elated to be working with Shaking The Tree for the first time.
Sound Designer- Matt Wiens
Matt is a Portland-based composer and sound designer and is stoked to be collaborating again with Shaking The Tree Theatre. Recent work includes Blood Wedding, Forbidden Fruit, Fucking A, Chick Fight, Family, Refuge, The Bakkhai, and Escaped Alone with Shaking the Tree Theatre; King of the Yees, Appropriate, Gloria, The Baltimore Waltz, Well, and Let Me Down Easy with Profile Theater; Indecent with Artists Repertory Theatre; Titus Andronicus and Barbecue with The Portland Playhouse. Matt holds a BA in Theater from Goshen College and a Masters in Music Technology from NYU. You can hear his music at soundcloud.com/mattwiens
Anya Jones (Costume Designer)
Anya Jones (they/them) is a costume designer, actor, and theater artist originally from Seattle, WA. Anya is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts Semester Program, Willamette University Theater, and Third Rail Repertory Theatre’s Mentorship Program. Recent design and assistant design credits include Nora (The Actors Conservatory), The Merchant of Venice (Portland Shakespeare Project), Dancing on the Sabbath (Shaking The Tree Theatre), Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (Portland Center Stage), and Racecar Racecar Racecar (Artists Repertory Theatre). They are thrilled to be back at STT!
Matt is a Portland-based composer and sound designer and is stoked to be collaborating again with Shaking The Tree Theatre. Recent work includes Blood Wedding, Forbidden Fruit, Fucking A, Chick Fight, Family, Refuge, The Bakkhai, and Escaped Alone with Shaking the Tree Theatre; King of the Yees, Appropriate, Gloria, The Baltimore Waltz, Well, and Let Me Down Easy with Profile Theater; Indecent with Artists Repertory Theatre; Titus Andronicus and Barbecue with The Portland Playhouse. Matt holds a BA in Theater from Goshen College and a Masters in Music Technology from NYU. You can hear his music at soundcloud.com/mattwiens
Anya Jones (Costume Designer)
Anya Jones (they/them) is a costume designer, actor, and theater artist originally from Seattle, WA. Anya is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts Semester Program, Willamette University Theater, and Third Rail Repertory Theatre’s Mentorship Program. Recent design and assistant design credits include Nora (The Actors Conservatory), The Merchant of Venice (Portland Shakespeare Project), Dancing on the Sabbath (Shaking The Tree Theatre), Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (Portland Center Stage), and Racecar Racecar Racecar (Artists Repertory Theatre). They are thrilled to be back at STT!
Special Thanks
PDX Wines for the delicious wine selection
To our crack scenic and lighting teams: Alex Meyer, Harry Fonk, Olivia Mathews, Rocco Weyer, Ella (Willie) Weltner, Ronnie Rantis & Zach Barbour
Braodway Rose Theatre & Portland Playhouse
To our crack scenic and lighting teams: Alex Meyer, Harry Fonk, Olivia Mathews, Rocco Weyer, Ella (Willie) Weltner, Ronnie Rantis & Zach Barbour
Braodway Rose Theatre & Portland Playhouse
