William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright (1564-1616) widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of 37 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several additional poems. His plays have been translated into every major language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Nigel Gore  trained at Rose Bruford College and the Trinity Repertory Conservatory, graduating in 1994. Recent work includes George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Elliot Norton Award Outstanding Actor 2010), Eddie in Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Henry Carr in Travesties, and Bernard Nightingale in Arcadia, all at the Publick Theatre Boston; Squeers and Hawk in Nicholas Nickleby at Lyric Stage Company of Boston; Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, Buckingham in Richard III, Lavache in All’s Well That Ends Well, Claudius in Hamlet, Mark Antony in Antony & Cleopatra and Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Shakespeare & Company; and Volumnia in Coriolanus with the Mercury Theatre in Colchester England. Narration work includes Gaian Variations at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in NYC, Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale performed with Puppeteer Dan Butterworth, Wellington’s March by Beethoven with the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra conductor Paul Phillips, An Evening of Music and Shakespeare and Peter & the Wolf performed with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Boston’s Jordan Hall. Mr. Gore appeared as Thurston Twitchell in Seasons 2 and 3 of Brotherhood for Showtime.

Tina Packer, is a leading authority on Shakespeare, not only in America but in the world. At Shakespeare & Company Tina has directed over 50 Shakespeare productions, as well as new and contemporary works including the world premieres of The Taster, Ice Glen, The Scarlet Letter by Dr. Carol Gilligan, Summer, adapted from Edith Wharton by Dennis Krausnick, and The Fly-Bottle by David Egan. Other productions of note include the critically-acclaimed King John, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Henry IV, Part 1, and most recently an all-male production of Coriolanus in England for the Mercury Theatre in Colchester. Last summer at Shakespeare & Company, Tina also channeled Texan journalist Molly Ivins in the hit one-woman show Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins. Previously for Shakespeare & Company, Tina took on the Queen of the Nile when she played Cleopatra in the Company’s 2007 season’s critically-acclaimed production of Antony and Cleopatra. Other S&Co. roles include Queen Gertrude in Hamlet where she played opposite her son, Jason Asprey, in the title role, and her husband, Dennis Krausnick, who played Polonious. Audiences flocked to see Tina as Lettice in Lettice and Lovage, and her many turns as Edith Wharton and Shirley Valentine which she has played numerous times over the past 30 years. Tina trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she won the Ronson Award for Most Outstanding Performer. In Britain, she was an associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company, performed in the West End, and acted with repertory companies in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leicester, and Coventry. She also worked for the BBC and ITV television companies and in film. She has worked with John Barton, Peter Hall, John Schlessinger, Sir Ian McKellan, Paul Scofield, Janet Suzman, and Ian Richardson, among others.

Paige Clark is thrilled to be returning to the cast of Arabian Nights after a two-year hiatus.  She is pleased to be reprising the role she originated, and for which she won an IRNE Award (Best Ensemble).  Other area credits: Emilia in Comedy Of Errors, Benvolia in Romeo & Juliet, Julia in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Helen in Troilus & Cressida (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Soraya in The Kite Runner (New Repertory Theatre), and Agnes in She Kills Monsters (Company One).  Paige has taught theatre to students of all ages throughout the Boston area at Riverside Theatre Works, Charlestown Working Theatre, Boston Preparatory Charter School, Warren Prescott Middle School, Edison K-8 School, and Boston University.  She is also the Assistant Theatre Director at Newton South High School.  She holds a BFA from Boston University and has studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.