Core Company

Amie Bjorklund is so excited to join FlagShakes as a Core Company member. She’s been working with the team since 2018 and looks forward to many more years here. As an actress with the company, Amie has performed in Titus Andronicus, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Tempest. She directed the 2019 production of A Winter’s Tale, and has served as props designer (Othello, The Importance of Being Earnest) and fight coordinator/captain (Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream). She was the FlagShakes production manager for 2 years, working with the staff, board, and volunteers to keep the theater moving forward during the pandemic. In AZ, Amie has performed with The Phoenix Theater Company, The Don Bluth Front Row Theater, Southwest Shakespeare Company, The Hale Theater, and Stage Left. She also performs in many different cities around the country. Select credits Include: Gertrude (Hamlet), Tamora (Titus Andronicus), Millamant (The Way of the World), The Witch (Into the Woods), Mayzie (Seussical), Reno (Anything Goes), Sheila (A Chorus Line). Amie holds her MAS:Film and Media Studies from ASU, MA: Acting from BCU in Birmingham UK, and BFA:Musical Theater from CSU Fullerton. She is also the co-artistic director of The Bridge Initiative theater company. “This is a wonderful time for live theater to continue thriving and I cannot wait to see what the Core Company of The Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival will do next. I’m proud to be a part of it and excited to get to work!”
@Official_AmieB

Justus was born and raised in Prescott, Arizona and has been involved in theatre across the Southwest for over 20 years. He appeared as an actor in several FlagShakes productions prior to joining the staff. Other theatre companies that Justus has worked with, either as a performer or in an administrative capacity, include Southwest Shakespeare Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and his hometown’s own Laark Productions. Justus holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre performance from Northern Arizona University. He lives in Munds Park, Arizona with his wife, Bree, who is a career journalist and the current host of Morning Edition at KNAU public radio. Together they are the proud parents of 2 rescue dogs (Jill and Sonora) and a cat (Indigo). In his spare time, Justus enjoys hiking, powerlifting, horror movies, and frequenting Flagstaff’s many excellent coffee shops and microbreweries.

Hannah is proud to have been with the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival since 2017, both onstage and off. Her favorite onstage FlagShakes credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena), The Tempest (Caliban), Duchess of Malfi (Julia), and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Mistress Quickly). Hannah doubles with FlagShakes as a director, choreographer, movement and music director, and costume designer. Her favorite offstage credits include directing A Christmas Carol, co-directing and choreographing Indecent, and choreographing Duchess of Malfi. Hannah has also worked with Tier 5 Theatre Company, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Arizona Theatre Company, Southwest Shakespeare Company, Neil Simon Festival, and Canyon Moon Theatre Company. Hannah holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre from Southern Utah University. She can also be seen behind her computer and around town as FlagShakes’ Marketing Director and Housing Manager. When Hannah isn’t acting, directing, or choreographing, you can find her out doing aerial dance, baking, and snuggling dogs

Ryan L. Jenkins is excited to join FlagShakes as a Core Company Member! She was last seen on the FlagShakes stage as Tybalt/Page/Apothecary in Romeo and Juliet, and Viola in Twelfth Night. Ryan’s other FlagShakes credits include Crumbs From The Table Of Joy (Ermina Crump), As You Like It (Orlando), Much Ado About Nothing (Ursula/Third Watch/Sexton), The Taming Of The Shrew (Katherine), and Macbeth (Third Witch/Third Murderer).

She has also worked with Spotlight Youth Theatre, Childsplay, Stray Cat Theatre, Black Theatre Troupe, Tier5 Theatre Company, Southwest Shakespeare Company, Virtual Theatre of Arizona, iTheatre Collaborative, and Nearly Naked Theatre. Ryan is originally from Chicago, Illinois, and earned her Acting BFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014.

Suze St. John has been a performer for most of her life and is honored to count several shows at FlagShakes among her favorite performances: Comedy of Errors (Aemelia, et al), Importance of Being Earnest (Lady Bracknell), A Lie of the Mind (Meg), Much Ado About Nothing (Leonata), Taming of the Shrew (Baptista), and the 2017 Merry Wives of Windsor (Mistress Page). Recent credits in the Phoenix area include Queen Elizabeth in William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead at Theater Works, and Hale Center Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof (Yente) and My Fair Lady (Mrs. Higgins). Also Velocity of Autumn (Alexandra), The Revolutionists (with an AriZoni nomination for her role as Marie Antoinette), and the title role in The Giver at Stage Left Productions, as well as playing Mrs. Claus in Claus and Effect at Order Chaos Theatre Company AND in The Truth About Santa Claus at BlkBoxPhx.  Suze holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Arizona, and a Masters Degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from ASU West. Miss St. John spent 25 years teaching Performing Arts at South Mountain High School in Phoenix and now happily sells movie tickets at Harkins.

Vicki Thompson was most recently seen in the FlagShakes production of Two Noble Kinsmen in various roles. Some of her favorite FlagShakes roles have been as Titus in Titus Andronicus and as Lorraine in A Lie of the Mind. She is a Viola Award winner for her role as Margie in Good People. Thanks for all your love and support in helping the theatre community by joining us as a  participant or audience member, we couldn’t do this without you.

 

Audrey Young was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona where she performed in shows with Arizona Theatre Company and The Arizona Repertory Theatre. She moved to Flagstaff and received a BS in Theatre from Northern Arizona University. Audrey was the recipient of the Viola Award for Emerging Artist in 2020 and portrayed Gerte Schulte in the 2023 Viola Award winning production of Crumbs from the Table of Joy. Recent shows with FlagShakes include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia/Quince/Mustardseed), Two Noble Kinsmen (Emilia), Twelfth Night (Feste), and Othello (Emilia). Additional productions include: Cyrano de Bergerac (Roxane) with Red Earth Theatre Co., and Eurydice (Little Stone/Eurydice U/S) and The Great Gatsby (Daisy Buchanen) with Emerson Theater Collaborative.