About Us - Staff
Besides acting in 50 films, 25 plays on and off Broadway and in four TV series, Shea, whose history with the island stage reaches back to the 1960s and the former Straight Wharf Theater, has directed and filmed movies and written screenplays. A founding member of the Nantucket Film Festival, Shea was just 26 when he made his Broadway debut in "Yentl," for which he won the Theatre World Award for Most Promising Actor. He achieved international fame in 1982, at the age of 32, for his role as a young American idealist involved in Chilean political violence in the Academy Award winningmovie "Missing," which also won the Cannes Film Festival Palme D'Or.
Director of Development/Managing Director Gabrielle Gould
Gabrielle Gould's passion for the theater has been with her since a very young age. After high school Gabrielle returned to New York, where she spent much of her youth, to study Opera at The Juilliard School and went on to graduate from the Professional Theater program at Circle in the Square. She continued her professional acting career in Manhattan until the life changing events of September 11th 2001 brought her to Nantucket to marry and share a life with her husband Brandt Gould. Since moving to Nantucket in 2001 Gabrielle has co-owned and operated a successful Island restaurant with her husband. She then moved on to a Development position with Small Friends of Nantucket, raising $3.5 million to build Nantucket's first LEED certified affordable Early Childcare and Education Facility. She is the extremely happy and lucky mother of two boys, Samual and Roka, and step mother to Jonathan and Annabel. She has shown her commitment to the Nantucket community through her volunteer time as President of the Board of Strong Wings, as a long standing member of the Cold Turkey Plunge Committee benefiting the Children's library at the Atheneum, as a volunteer director for Jim Sulzer at the Nantucket New School and as an actor with Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. She has starred and co-starred on TWN's "Centre Stage" in The Weir, Sylvia, A View of the Harbor and Almost Maine. Gabrielle is thrilled to bring her experience in business, theater and fund raising to Theatre Workshop and to usher TWN into this new decade. She is also thrilled to be working with such a fantastic board, Artistic Director John Shea, the wonderful directors, theater staff and the talented and dedicated group of volunteer actors. Gabrielle is looking forward to maintaining TWN's core mission to entertain, enrich, educate, challenge and inspire performing artists and audiences of all ages far into the future.
Technical Director - Eric Schultz
Eric Schultz has been involved with Theatre for nearly 40 years, serving one discipline or another during that time. He has designed several shows in New York for the Wooster Street Theatre and certain independent productions as well as serving as stage manager/technical director for the Light Opera of Manhattan, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Repertory Theatre. He returned to Nantucket to be Resident Designer/Technical Director for TWN in 1988 and held that position until 1996 and resumed in 2005.
Production Manager - Jane Karakula
Jane Karakula has played an integral role in the history of Nantucket theatre with 65 production credits, 20 of them directorial. She arrived on island in 1990 to work at the Actors Theatre. A brief hiatus in 1996-1997 sent her to England for a master’s degree in Contemporary Theatre Practice. Upon her return she became the Associate Director for Actors Theatre until its’ closing in 2004 and went on to serve a three year appointment as Artistic Director for Theatre Workshop. Prior to life on Nantucket, she was an actress with the No Theater for 15 years. Her performing career has taken her around the globe to Japan and England, and here in New York, San Francisco and Boston. Jane has taught acting locally and is a former member of the Screen Actors Guild.
