POTUS

Cast Bios (in alphabetical order) 

David Bodin*
​Dave Bodin has appeared in a number of productions in Portland over the years. Favorites include One Flea Spare at Shaking the Tree, Eurydice at Artists Rep, The Road to Mecca at Profile Theatre, and Twelfth Night with Portland Shakespeare Project. He’s very pleased to be here tonight.

Tricia Casteñeda-Guevara
Tricia Castañeda-Guevara is a classically trained actor, originally hailing from Los Angeles, CA. She holds an M.F.A. from the University of Washington’s P.A.T.P., B.A. from Linfield University and has trained with The International Stunt School in Seattle, Washington. Tricia has a strong penchant for the rigor of Suzuki, coupled with the ease, wholistic and integrative approach that is the Alexander Technique.  Favorite credits include Blood Wedding and a reading of Yerma with Shaking the Tree, Hamlet with Portland Shakespeare Project, The Hispanic Vote with Milagro Theatre, Romeo y Julieta with Seattle Shakespeare Company, By The Way Meet Vera Stark at the Jones Playhouse, Goldie Max and Milk and Cock by Mike Bartlett at the Penthouse Theatre, and more…Tricia is both delighted and grateful to be returning to Shaking the Tree for readings of The Crucible and POTUS or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive!

Shareen Jacobs
Shareen Jacobs (she/her) is a local actor, deviser, and sometime director, who was last seen dancing her heart out in sequins and lace.

Kayla Kelly
Kayla Kelly is excited to be working with Shaking the Tree for the first time. Kayla Kelly is from Houston, TX, and holds a Bachelor of Arts. Maybe you have seen her on stage at your local theatre. She enjoys acting, teaching, dabbling in stand-up comedy, writing, and finding creation in everyday life. Thank you to everyone who has made this production possible. Representation truly matters!

Diane Kondrat
Diane Kondrat's theatre life has included appearing in 111 shows (not including 18 years spent doing applied interactive theatre in prisons), sketch comedy with Sam Dinkowitz's SPECTRAVAGASM, being a company member with Third Rail Repertory, directing, playwriting, teaching.  Show #112 is playing with Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative.  Kondrat is onstage with the multi-skilled musician Michelle Alany, under the direction of Patrick Walsh, doing Joan Didion's YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING.  Interested?  The schedule is available at www.nwctc.org/upcoming-shows  Favorite past performances in Portland include Kay in RADIANT VERMIN and Winnie in Beckett's HAPPY DAYS.  Elsewhere?  Martha in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, Hamlet in HAMLET, and Rose in THE CHILDREN.

Olivia Matthews
Olivia Mathews (she/they) is a performer, director, deviser, teacher based in Portland, OR. Olivia’s work is process focused, rigorous, expressive and devoted to collaboration as a means of practicing community and self-advocacy. Most recent performance credits include ENDURANCE the boat, the show (CoHo Theatre), From A Hole in the Ground (Corrib Theatre), Blood Wedding and Forbidden Fruit (Shaking the Tree Theatre). Directing credits include Precipice (Vanport Mosaic) and The Americans (PETE). She also holds a certification from Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble’s Institute for Contemporary Performance. Olivia is delighted to be returning to the Shaking the Tree stage for the UBU America reading series!

Lizzy Rees
Lizzy Rees is excited to be a part of her first ever production with Shaking the Tree. Rees has her BFA in Acting from Texas State University. Recent credits include JAW Playwrights Festival at Portland Center Stage and Appropriate at Profile Theatre. Rees would like to thank Kayla Hanson for this opportunity and sends her love to her number one fan, Ada.

Barbie Wu*
Wu is a Portland based actor, director, and professor. She holds a Master of Fine Arts
degree in acting from Southern Methodist University. She is a resident artist at Artists
Repertory Theatre. Wu is an assistant professor in the theatre department at Reed
College.

*Member of Actors' Equity

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Creative Team Bios 

Kayla Hanson (Director)
Kayla Hanson (she/her) is honored to be making her directorial debut at Shaking the Tree! An interdisciplinary artist, she received her BA in Theatre and minor in Communications: Film and Media Studies from Boise State University. Recent acting roles include “A” in We Wrote This With You in Mind, “Canary Mary” in Fucking A, “She” in Chick Fight: A Reckoning in Nine Movements, “Our Lady of Essence and Exchange” in Refuge, and “Grand-mere” in ____the wolf  (Shaking the Tree Theatre) and “Young Woman” in Arlington (Third Rail Repertory Theatre). Choreography and Movement Directing credits include The Event! and The Children (Artists Repertory Theatre), Arlington (Third Rail Repertory Theatre), and The Ways We Cope (Red Balloon Theatre Collective). 

Emily Hogan (Stage Manager)
EMILY HOGAN is a middle child and a double-Sagittarius. A transplant from Lompoc, CA, Emily studied theater at the University of Portland, focusing on dramaturgy and performance. Emily has performed with Shaking the Tree, Portland Revels, Hand2Mouth, and Milagro. Primarily, Emily works as a stage manager, managing Forbidden Fruit, Fucking A, MODELMINORITY, Chick Fight, and serving as ASM for Family at Shaking the Tree. Emily has also been a dramaturg on numerous productions, such as 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 was also able to serve as a teaching artist for Hand2Mouth and Milagro, and is a current Hand2Mouth Company Member. 

Nate Raphael (Technical Director)
Nate Raphael is the Technical Director at Shaking the Tree. Recent shows he built with Shaking
the Tree include, 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 furniture and coaching tennis
among other things in his free time. Education: BA in Fine Art and Sociology, Whitman College 2019.