Samantha Sherman
Samantha feels genuinely honored to have been invited to direct Ghost Boat’s second production, The Wren. She thanks Jenny, Kat and Steven for entrusting her with their latest venture. Getting this particular show ready to witness by an audience has been one of the most collaborative theatrical experiences she has had thus far. So much credit to the amazing cast and crew. Samantha hopes the result of this journey will be as powerful an experience for the audience as it was in the rehearsal room. Sláinte!
Kat Eggleston
Kat is a singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and playwright who has performed and taught internationally for more than thirty years and created many solo and collaborative recordings of original and traditional music that have been distributed worldwide. She has appeared onstage on Vashon in her play The Cyclone Line, a play with music, and in Chicago in productions at the Steppenwolf Garage Space, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Chicago’s Briar Street Theatre in Woody Guthrie’s American Song, and in the historic Victory Gardens Theatre in the acclaimed Snow Queen, along with its composer Michael Smith. Most recently, Kat was cast as the Balladeer in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s U.S. premiere production of Brokeback Mountain. She also wrote and performed the music for Bryan
Willis’s Oscar’s Journey: The Fall and Rise of the Bird King, produced by Vashon Repertory Theater this summer.
Her play The Wren had its first reading through Vashon Repertory Theater. This is its first time out in the world as a full production.
Kevin Joyce
Kevin has been a Vashon resident since 1989, having moved here to create theater along with the other founding members of UMO – all of whom remain his lifelong friends, mentors, and co-conspirators. He worked with UMO for 12 years, co- created 15 shows, logged over 1500 performances in the US, and abroad, at schools, festivals, theaters, streets, and corporate HR meetings. He is co-founder, along with Martha Enson, of EnJoy Productions, and has performed in 800+ live events throughout the US and abroad. He’s a member of SAG/AFTRA, has appeared on TV, film and radio. He created the solo piece A Pale and Lovely Place, and worked for 2 years with Phillip Glass and Nikki Appino to create The White Lama, which tragically had but one COVID-impacted performance on March 12, 2020. He was a lead performer and director at Teatro Zinzanni and appeared with Joan Baez, Maria Muldaur, and film legend Maria Montevecchi. Kevin is a singer-songwriter whose albums include Say It and Songs for Repair. He has spent the last 2 years creating a framework for human resilience training called “non-artificial intelligence”. Kevin’s delighted to work with Ghost Boat, this amazing team, and his dear friend Kat.
Jon Whalen
As a wee baby, Jon was not cast in cutsey diaper or baby food commercials. His Mom did begin a children’s theater program in his elementary school as a release for his volatile, creative energy. A requisite outlet for said energy remained vital throughout his life. Vashon Island
offered a unique opportunity to work with the talent-rich community of performers and patrons that abound on our island. He has performed in shows with all the major production companies,14/47 Theater Festival, and multiple musical and comedy endeavors including but not limited to;
the FieldHands, an original works Americana band, Little Creatures, a Talking Heads Tribute band, and Church of Great Rain and its subsidiary Church….both highlighting and exploiting island life and lore for the betterment of society. Having read The Wren, (formerly “Draolin”), with Kat and Kevin, it was an easy ‘yes’ when asked to perform and be part of this intimate and spectacular creative effort!
Natalie Copeland
Natalie Copeland (she/her) works in theatre and education both on Vashon and in Seattle. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre (CWU), and has spent her whole life in the theatre or the woods, (sometimes at the same time). She is also a scholar of Cultural Astronomy, and teaches stargazing basics with her portable planetarium and blog, The Sky Connection. As a long-time lover and creator of musical fringe and new works, she is grateful to be working with the great folks at Ghost Boat again after Music Directing and performing in One Thing After Another.
Linda Nygaard
Linda Nygaard has been in and around theatre for longer than she cares to admit. To her mind, theatre is everywhere. Her love of acting started in third grade when she played the part of August (she wanted to be December). That was the beginning of her love of performing and writing. During her adulting years as a food and travel writer based in Portland, Linda found herself fascinated by the varying styles of food theatre she saw in impressive and well-known
international kitchens. She believes dining rooms are nothing but theatre with food presented as the main character. On stage, Linda has enjoyed playing different characters both in Portland and on Vashon. Since moving to the island, she has played in several productions including Vagina Monologues, Plays in a Snap, and A Place Like This.
Gabe Reilly-Bates
Gabe Reilly-Bates has lived on Vashon Island for 10 years. He has been singing Irish music, including Irish Sean-nós music, (which means “old style” in Irish) for the last 20 years. Gabe has studied Irish music with singers Kathy Cowan, Kat Eggleston, Sean Williams, and Séamus Ó Flatharta (Connemara).
Karen Dale
Karen Dale has been fiddling Irish tunes for the last ten years. She’s an adult returnee to music: her mother made her take piano lessons K-12 because “someday you might want to play for your college Glee Club.” HAH! Didn’t happen! In her 50s, Dale took guitar lessons from Kat, then switched to fiddle, mentored through her scratchy years by Holly Tuttle and partner Kim Nelson. After 10 years trolling regional Irish sessions and with daily practice during Covid, she now
plays Irish & Old Time in the trio Triskelion, and is learning clawhammer banjo.
Gillian Kirkpatrick
After a six-year hiatus, Gillian Kirkpatrick is returning to the theater at the behest of her friend and director, Samantha Sherman. Previously, she has worked on a variety of shows through Vashon High School and Drama Dock in a variety of roles, such as lighting and sound technician, but this production marks her first foray into stage management. She’s thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work with such wonderful people, and the experience has reinvigorated her love of performance art. Hopefully, she will continue to be involved in more projects in the future.
Tesse Crocker
As a Costume design assistant at regional Theaters across the country, Tesse assisted notable designers such as Paul Tazewell and Catherine Zuber. Tesse has designed Costumes for Seattle Repertory Theater, Intiman, Seattle Children’s Theater, Cabrillo Festival, American Conservatory Theater, and UMO. Recent credits include Sweeney Todd, Still in Love with You, and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle for Vashon Repertory Theater, and the independent feature film, Theater is Dead. Tesse is a tailor and teacher, offering sewing lessons at LB Sew Studio located in the Vashon Village.