DAVE BELDEN (A Hired Man) makes his Court Theatre debut with this production. He most recently played Ed Sullivan in Lady Chaplin & Her Tramp at Piven Theatre, and also appeared there in Chekhov: The Stories. Favorite productions include: The Taming of the Shrew and Love’s Labor’s Lost (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Earth to Margaret (Acorn Theatre), Shoppers Carried by Escalators into the Flames (Viaduct Theatre), and Alcestis (Uffish Theater). He performs with Flying Leap Radio Theater, where he’s voiced a wide variety of characters, including Dick Powell, Dorian Gray, Ole the Swede, and multiple Irish police officers. Dave is a violinist with the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Joffrey Ballet.

CHAON CROSS (Yelena) returns to Court Theatre having previously appeared in The Glass Menagerie, Cyrano, The Romance Cycle, Scapin, and Phedre. Chaon has also appeared in Chicago area productions at Steppenwolf, Northlight Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Timeline, Frump Tucker Theatre, and Theater Hikes, as well as Theater at the Center in Indiana, and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. Chaon previously toured the US and Canada for two years with Shenandoah Shakespeare.

KEVIN GUDAHL (Uncle Vanya) returns to Court Theatre where he has appeared in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, My Fair Lady, School for Wives, Putting It Together, The Misanthrope, Travesties, and Celimene and the Cardinal. Other Chicago credits include: numerous appearances at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in such shows as Julius Caesar, A Little Night Music, A Flea In Her Ear, and the title role in Macbeth; The House of Martin Guerre, Zoot Suit, and most recently King Lear at the Goodman Theatre; and the musicals 1776 and The King and I at the Marriott Theatre. Additional Chicago credits include shows at Writers’ Theatre, Northlight, Victory Gardens, Apple Tree, National Jewish Theatre, Briar Street, and Wisdom Bridge. International stage appearances include Pacific Overtures at the Donmar Warehouse in London, Henry IV (parts 1 and 2) at the Swan Theatre for the RSC; and five seasons with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada. Film credits include Early Edition (CBS), Crime Story (NBC), and The Untouchables. Kevin is a recipient of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award and the After Dark Award, and he is also an instructor in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Classical Training Program.

JAMES HARMS (Serebriakov) began his career at the Little Theater in Sullivan, IL, and is delighted to add Court Theatre to the list of Chicago theaters in which he has appeared. Credits in the past year include Much Ado About Nothing, Hecuba (Talthybius), and Hamlet, all at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Touring shows include The Fantasticks, Evita, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. James has received eight Jefferson Awards and has been a member of Actors’ Equity since 1963.

TIMOTHY EDWARD KANE (Astrov) is pleased to return to Court, having appeared in The Romance Cycle and Hamlet. Chicago credits include: Hamlet, Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 (also performed at the RSC, Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK), A Flea in Her Ear, The Merchant of Venice, King John, The Moliere Comedies, Love’s Labor’s Lost, The Tempest, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, All’s Well That Ends Well (Chicago Shakespeare), The Underpants (Noble Fool), Hushabye Mountain, Early and Often, Hellcab (Famous Door), Cyrano de Bergerac, The Clink (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble). Regional credits include: School for Scandal (Mark Taper Froum), Broadway Bound, Fools, Souffle Surprise (Peninsula Players), and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Hamlet, All’s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing (Illinois Shakespeare Festival).

MATTHEW KRAUSE (Telegin) has appeared at Court Theatre in Man of La Mancha, Travesties, Scapin (also at Intiman Theatre, Seattle), Piano, Twelfth Night, and Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards. Other credits include: Inherit the Wind (Northlight), Romance (Goodman), Lady Madeline (Steppenwolf), It’s All True and Hauptmann (TimeLine), The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chicago Shakespeare) and Winesburg, Ohio (About Face). He’s very happily married to Maureen Powers.

ELIZABETH LEDO (Sonya) is appearing for the second time with Court Theatre having appeared in The Real Thing in 1999. Chicago credits include: Lookingglass Theatre’s The Old Curiosity Shop, Northlight Theatre’s The Chalk Garden, Drury Lane Oakbrook’s Barefoot in the Park, Writers’ Theatre’s Arms and the Man, Chicago Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Steppenwolf Theatre’s Homebody/Kabul and Morningstar. Regional credits include productions with Summer Shakespeare at Notre Dame, Indiana Repertory Theatre, and over 14 productions with Milwaukee Repertory Theatre where some favorites inlude The Clean House, The Crucible, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Anna Karenina, Wit, and 5 seasons of A Christmas Carol. Elizabeth is a proud graduate of Loyola University of Chicago.

PEGGY ROEDER (Mrs.Voinitsky) last worked at Court Theatre in 1991 on The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and she is thrilled to be back again! Recent credits include: Barefoot in the Park at Drury Lane Oakbrook, Cabaret at Peninsula Players, Cradle of Man at Victory Gardens, The Clean House at Milwaukee Rep, Kabuki Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet at Chicago Shakespeare, The Dresser at Steppenwolf, Necessary Targets at Apple Tree, and Our Town at Writers’ Theatre. Her work in Chicago has garnered her four Jeffs, three After Darks, and three Artisan Awards. Nationally, she worked at Atlantic Theatre Company, LaJolla Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, and Arizona Theatre Company. Film credits include Stranger Than Fiction, Road to Perdition, Groundhog Day, The Lakehouse, and Fairies. Television credits include Law & Order, E.R., Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, All My Children, The Pennsylvania Miners Movie, and Prison Break. Peggy can be heard on Twilight Zone Radio Series and the Second City Divas CDs.

PENNY SLUSHER (Marina) is pleased to be returning to Court Theatre having appeared here as Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest and as Mrs. Malins in the revival of James Joyce’s “The Dead.” She most recently appeared as Lavinia Hubbard in the critically acclaimed Another Part of the Forest at Writers’ Theatre. Other credits include Grace in Bus Stop and Nettie in The Subject was Roses (also Writers’ Theatre), Simona in Serendipity Theatre's The Outfit, Rosemary (Jeff Citation nominee) in Griffin Theatre’s Picnic, Aunt Hannah in All the Way Home (also Griffin Theatre) and Mrs. Grogan in Famous Door’s Jeff Award winning The Cider House Rules. Penny has also had the pleasure of working with Steppenwolf Theatre and Apple Tree Theatre. In musical theatre she has been seen in Countess Maritza and Kismet at Light Opera Works, as Geneva Lee Brown in The 1940s Radio Hour, Widow Corney in Oliver! and Mme. Dubonnet in The Boyfriend. Her film credits include Grace Is Gone and Death Of A President. You may also have seen her in commercial spots for Scrubbing Bubbles, Steak and Shake, and Columbus Hospital.

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