A lifelong Flagstaff local, Dawn Tucker has spent her career building spaces where great art, community connection, and civic care meet. As Director of Vision and Impact for Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival, she leads long-range strategy, fundraising, partnerships, and community engagement—guiding the organization’s growth from a single-show summer festival into a nationally recognized, year-round cultural anchor.
Dawn holds a Master’s degree in Shakespeare in Performance from the American Shakespeare Center in partnership with Mary Baldwin University and a BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Wisconsin. Her work is rooted in the belief that theatre is not a luxury, but a public good—one that strengthens empathy, supports mental and emotional well-being, and helps communities better understand themselves.
Under her leadership, FlagShakes has earned multiple Viola Awards for artistic excellence and community impact, expanded access through pay-what-you-can performances and educational outreach, and fostered deep collaboration across Flagstaff’s arts, education, and science communities. Dawn is also an active advocate for historic preservation, creative placemaking, and opportunities for women and emerging artists to lead.
She remains deeply grateful to the artists, partners, and especially the audiences whose trust and enthusiasm make this work meaningful. Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival exists because the community believes in it—and Dawn is honored to help steward that belief into the future.

Originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia, Becki first came to Flagstaff in 2019 to perform with FlagShakes, and officially moved here in 2021 after cultivating an artistic home with the company. She has been in over a dozen FlagShakes productions, as well as served as Production Manager from 2019-2021. Becki holds a BA in Theatre with an Acting Concentration from Temple University, and has a background in theatre administration, Human Resources, theatre production and stage management, and performing.

Previous work experience includes: “West Side Story” International Tour, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Rail Events Productions/”The Polar Express,” Southwest Shakespeare Company, Bigfork Summer Playhouse, The Walnut Street Theatre, The REV Theatre, and Creede Repertory Theatre.

Amie Bjorklund is originally from California and now splits her time between there and Arizona. She considers Flagstaff her “home away from homes” and FlagShakes one of her home theaters. After performing on our stage, directing our actors, designing props and fights, as well as being the production manager, it’s exciting to have Amie step into this artistic leadership role. Amie holds her MA in Classic British Theater from Birmingham Conservatoire, UK, her MAS in Film and Media Studies from ASU, and a BFA in musical from CSUF. She is the Artistic Director for The Bridge Initiative in Phoenix, AZ and Company Manager for Rail Events Productions. Amie is very grateful to be able to be a full-time theater creator, as well as college professor in the arts.
Amie has directed with Southwest Shakespeare, Mesa Encore Theatre, Advice to the Players, Huntington MS, and Maricopa Colleges, and has been on the stages with The Phoenix Theater Company, Southwest Shakespeare, Hale Center Theatre, The Chance Theater, Moonlight Amphitheatre, 3D Theatricals, and Glendale Center Theatre. Creating live theater experiences where people feel seen and safe, as well as empowered as creators and audience members, is why she works so hard and asks so much. “It is a gift to be able to spend my life in the arts and with the people who make the magic happen.”

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 Flagstaff 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.

Racquel is a Jamaica-born, Chicago-raised actor turned Arizona transplant. Her professional work began with the St. Louis Black Repertory Theater in 2008. Upon graduating from Southern Illinois University with her BA in theater, she began an international tour through Barbados, England, and Nigeria with ZMirage Co. After returning to the states, she became a veteran dancer with Gorilla Tango Theater performing in their nerd-lesque shows including Don’t Blink; A Doctor Who Burlesque. She moved to Phoenix in 2014 after being promoted to Director for The Murder Mystery Company.

Since relocating to Phoenix, she has been seen on the stages of Childsplay Theatre; Junie B Jones is Not a Crook, Stray Cat Theatre; The Cake, Southwest Shakespeare Company; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, Taming of the Shrew, and As You Like it, Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival; Duchess of Malfi, Emerson Theatre Collaborative; Stop Kiss and Bee-Luther-Hatchee, and Black Theatre Troupe; The Taste Test and Lines in the Dust. For her, theater is the physical manifestation of true collaborative art. It invites everyone in to lay their crafts on the table and to trust that the process will teach, entertain, and invite. It’s a place anyone can belong. It’s her honor to assure it stays that kind of place.

Christine Schmidle is a freelance director and text coach. At Shakespeare’s Globe in London, she worked as Text Associate on over 50 productions. She received her MFA at Mary Baldwin College. Christine’s acting and directing experience includes various roles at the American Shakespeare Center, the Pocket Theater in Stony Brook, and the Airport Playhouse. In Germany, she worked at the Shakespeare-Festival Neuss and the Theatre of Krefeld. She has been published in the Shakespeare Bulletin with “Bilingual Hamlet: Der Bestrafte Brudermord in the 21st century,” and she translated “Der Bestrafte Brudermord” into English for Hidden Room’s puppet show, which has been touring worldwide. Follow her work at www.verse-words.com