We’re pleased to continue our new wing of productions: FLIGHTS WITH FENIX!
The goal of this umbrella of programming is to explore more of Shakespeare's works throughout the year in new, exciting, and unexpected ways while providing paid opportunities for more artists.
Our first Flights with Fenix was a Play in a Day - MACBETH, which played to a sold out audience at The Hill Arts in Portland, ME on November 2, 2025.
We're delighted to announce our next exploration of Shakespeare's work:
Come experience the prequel to our summer show HENRY IV PART 1 with a Play in a Day production of RICHARD II!
No one knows what will actually happen when the show starts, and that's the real magic. At 9:00 AM on Sunday, May 17th, twenty-four actors will gather at The Hill Arts to do something exhausting, ambitious, and very possibly stupid. They will arrive with only their lines memorized. They will not have the luxury of weeks of rehearsal. They will not have the “bells and whistles” of scenery or meticulously designed props and costumes. They will not have a comfort zone. Instead, these actors will rely on their dramatic instincts, weeks of solo preparation, the brilliance of a Shakespeare play, and the adrenaline that pumps through their veins on the knowledge that the audience will file in to see the show at 7:00 PM on the same day.
Will we pull it off? The only way to find out is to join us.
WOW! Our free tickets "sold out" within 2hrs of our Fenix email announcement. Don't lose hope, we recommend:
1. JOIN THE WAITLIST
We expect to release some tickets out to the waitlist closer to show date.
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To join the waitlist, email deirdre.nice@thehillarts.me
With subject line: Flights with Fenix Richard II
In the email body put name, phone, email & number of tickets requested
2. WATCH OUR EMAILS & SOCIALS
We might have a raffle for tickets. To make sure you hear about it:
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Join our email list (and add info@fenixtheatre.com to your contacts)
3. JOIN THE STAND BY LINE
All non-ticket holders can arrive early at The Hill Arts on Sunday May 17th to join the standby line outside the building.
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We will release unclaimed seats to the standby line as available right before showtime
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For FLIGHTS WITH FENIX: MACBETH, we were able to accommodate everyone in this line
Our suggested donation is $25/person.
To reduce cost barriers for our community members, we operate on a donate-what-you-can model rather than charging a ticket fee. But free theater is not free to produce, and we pay our artists for their time and talent.
All donations for this production will be split 50/50 with The Hill Arts as part of their venue partnership.
We gratefully accept cash/check/Venmo donations at the theater on the night of the show, or you can donate online at any time using the button below. Thank you for your support!
Meet the Cast
ISABEL BATES (she/they) as Earl of Salisbury & Courtier
Isabel is thrilled to work with Fenix for the first time! As a Shakespeare enthusiast, Isabel is in the process of continually seeking out as many Shakespeare shows as possible in the Seacoast. Her most recent adventure was playing Brackenbury and Catesby in Richard III as produced by Bitter Pill. Beyond the stage, Isabel enjoys rock climbing and reading lots of murder mysteries.
PETER BROWN (he/him) as Bishop of Carlisle
Peter Brown has led Fenix Theatre Company as Artistic Director since 2019, and has been associated with the company since its second season when he performed in The Taming of the Shrew and directed A Midsummer Night's Dream (2009). Peter is thrilled to finally be directing this summer's production of Henry IV, Part 1, the play that immediately follows Richard II in Shakespeare's War of Roses cycle and a play he has been in love with since reading in high school many eons ago. Many of Peter's favorite theatre experiences have occurred on the Fenix stage: playing Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing (2016) and Malvolio in Twelfth Night (2010), and creating Fenix’s recurring holiday offering, 12th Night: A Holiday Musical. His most rewarding role will always be "Dad" to Crosby, Lexton and Jordy (who was born the morning after the first Flights with Fenix Play-in-a-Day production last November).
IAN CARLSEN as King Richard II
Ian is thrilled to be returning to the stage with Fenix Theatre. Previous Fenix shows include: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, Love's Labour's Lost, and Romeo and Juliet. He is a father, husband, commercial producer, writer, and competitive birdwatcher. Thank you to Mint Films, Portland Stage, Portland Shakespeare Co., Sean Mewshaw & Desi Van Til, Good Theater, AIRE Theater, Mad Horse, The Originals, Theater at Monmouth, LA Arts, USM Theater, and especially Lorem Ipsum for all your opportunities to play. This one is for Robin.
ADA COROVESSIS as Lord Willoughby
Bio coming soon.
MEGAN CROSS (she/her) as Henry Bolingbroke
Megan Cross has performed and mentored across the country with San Francisco State University, Marin Theatre Company, New Conservatory Theater Center, San Jose Rep, TheaterWorks, il teatro450, Last Planet Theater, Theatre Rhinoceros, black ball theater ensemble of Phoenix, and Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival.
Maine productions include Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors (Good Theater), Pony (Portland Theatre Festival), The Art Of Eliza (Maine Playwright’s Festival), The Moors (Dramatic Rep), Cat On a Hot Tin Roof (Acorn Productions), Immigrant Garden, Misconceptions, and In My Head I’m Thin (Footlights Theatre). Megan is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Southern Maine honors program and the Department of Theater.
Catch Megan next in Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and Sleeping Beauty, Or Coma, a collaboration with Out There Theatre Company and Good Theater this summer and the remount of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at Good Theater this October.
DANIEL CUFF (he/him) as Lord Marshall & Duke of Surrey
Daniel is an actor and writer based out of Portland. Recent credits include Grand Horizons with Good Theater, Wolf Play with Portland Theater Festival, Tumacho with Mad Horse Theater. He also worked on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet with Portland Stage’s educational tour. He is thankful to be part of such a fun and wild production! Love always to Carrot and the Bean.
TIM DUGAN as Thomas Mowbray & Murderer with Exton
Tim is thrilled to make his debut at Fenix Theatre. Most recent credits include Antony in Antony & Cleopatra and Quince/Egeus in A Midsummer's Night's Dream in repertory at Quintessence Theatre Group in Philadelphia. Other Philly credits: Cyrano-De Guiche-QTG, The Other Place-Walnut Street Theatre; Steal Her Bones, Straight White Men-InterAct Theatre; Long Live the Little Knife-Inis Nua; Frost/Nixon-New City Stage; Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The Crucible -Temple U Theaters. Regionally: Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, Shipwrecked!-Saratoga Shakespeare Company; Doubt, Tuesdays with Morrie, A Song For My Father-Oldcastle Theatre Company; Noises Off-C-R Productions. M.F.A. Temple University. Proud member: AEA, SAG-AFTRA, National Alliance of Acting Teachers. Associate Professor/Chair of Theater & Dance-Bates College. @tjduganjr
PAUL FIDALGO (he/they) as Duke of York
Paul is an actor, musician, and writer who last performed with Fenix as Jaques and Duke Frederick in As You Like It; as Boyet, Holofernes, and Longaville in Love’s Labor’s Lost; as Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night; and as King Duncan in the play-in-a-day production of Macbeth. Quite often, Fenix also lets Paul write songs and direct music. At Schoolhouse Arts, they played Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet, Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, and Eric in The Humans. They frequently get to perform with Portland Stage’s wonderful “Play Me a Story” program, and they have directed nine productions for the UNE Players. A bazillion years ago, Paul spent five years in repertory as an actor, music director, composer, and educator with the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia. Paul is also a vaguely accomplished writer with a master’s degree in political management from George Washington University, which they really aren’t making very good use of, frankly. They are the proud dad of two dangerous and amazing pupae—one of whom is in this very production. Find Paul's music, under the name Pav Alexander, on all the streamy-downloady platforms.
TOBY FIDALGO (he/him) as Young Harry Percy
Toby Fidalgo is a sophomore at Thornton Academy in Saco and is delighted to be part of Richard II. Toby has been performing in plays and musicals ever since he was small, however, this will be his first time performing outside of a school or camp setting! Toby also gets to perform in this production alongside his father, Paul Fidalgo, which makes it extra special.
MARY FRASER (she/her) as Duchess of York & Gardener's Servingman
Mary is a Portland based actor who is totally stoked to be in this wild ride for Richard II with Fenix. Recent productions include Patricia Mullholland’s Solitude of Space: Emily Dickinson, the Woman, the Poet and Women Laughing Alone with Salad with Mad Horse Theater in 2025. Mary will join the cast of Seven Sisters with DRC this fall. So much love to Bill and Lillian - the finest kind.
PAUL HALEY as John of Gaunt & Abbot &Courtier
Paul Haley performed most recently as the Narrator in Patricia Mulholland’s Solitude of Space — Emily Dickinson: The Woman, The Poet. Other roles this season were in the Mad Horse Theatre production of The Minutes, and It Shoulda Been You with Good Theater. He played Roy Cohn in the Dramatic Rep Company/Portland Stage 2024 coproduction of Angels in America, Parts 1 & 2. He has done other work with Good Theater and Mad Horse, and has also performed with Portland Theater Festival, AIRE Theater, Theater at Monmouth, Camden Shakespeare, Fenix Theatre Co., Acorn Productions and other Maine companies. He’s excited to be included in Fenix’s Play In A Day, and appreciates being with all particular members of this herd to see what happens, headlight-wise.
CARINA HIGGINS as Lord Ross
Carina is so excited to be working on this project and to be making her Fenix debut! Recent credits include: Lenny Rutledge/Woman 4 in Like Files, a rage play (Portland Stage), Ross/Young Siward in Macbeth (The Portland Players), and Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (Lyric Music Theater). Carina has a BFA in Theatre and Performance from Emerson College. She would like to thank her family and friends for all their love and support, as well this incredible ensemble and team at Fenix. Enjoy the show!
DANA LEGAWIEC as Duchess of Gloucester
Bio coming soon.
JONAS MAINES as Lord Fitzwater & Servingman
Bio coming soon.
JAMES PATEFIELD (he/him) as Gaunt's Attendant & Keeper & Courtier
James Patefield (he/him) is a Portland-based actor and director. He has performed (Macduff, Flights with Fenix Macbeth: A Play in a Day; Feste, Twelfth Night) and directed (Midsummer Night's Dream) with Fenix, Portland Stage (Arsenic and Old Lace, various Too Strange to Live, Too Weird to Die / Play Me A Story readings), and Mad Horse (The Explorer's Club, various reading series). He helped found the site-specific performance collaborative Bare Portland, and loves making weird art from trash with his friends.
CHRIS PRICE as Sir Stephen Scropp & Guard w. Richard & Officer & Courtier
Bio coming soon.
SEAN RAMEY as Exton & Gaunt's Attendant
Bio coming soon.
RONAN HOPE RIORDAN (they/them/theirs) as Duke of Aumerle
Ronan Hope Riordan is a nonbinary creative based in Portland, Maine. Ronan performed as “Rosalind” in Fenix Theatre Company's As You Like It (2025) and is continually grateful for that process as it reconnected them to acting and to Shakespeare. Ronan has worked behind the scenes for theater companies such as Mad Horse Theater Company, Portland Theater Festival, and The Maine Playwright’s Festival. They are grateful for Portland's network of hardworking, collaborative, and kind humans. Ronan would also like to thank their mom…who has put up with their Shakespeare obsession for a very long time. Check out Are We Worthy? Theater Collaborative @areweworthy
NATE STEPHENSON (he/him) as Bagot & Murderer with Exton
Nate Stephenson is a local actor and creative. Born and raised in Maine, he has spent the last four years based in Portland and has performed throughout New England. He was most recently seen in It Shoulda Been You at Good Theater's new Steven’s Square Community Center venue. Other recent work includes Angels in America: Parts 1 & 2 at Portland Stage. Other artistic ventures include his play The Moth Eaters which was read as a semifinalist in the 2024 Maine Playwrights Festival, and his involvement with The Maine Playweek, a collaborative effort to raise awareness of local and independent cinemas and films. www.natestephenson.com insta: @natetheprettygood
MARJOLAINE WHITTLESEY (she/her) as Richard's Queen & Courtier
Marjolaine Whittlesey is an educator, theater artist, and the Education Manager at The Telling Room. She loves sharing random facts about tigers and whales, writing poetry and creative non fiction, and cooking up delicious meals from the cobwebs of her pantry. She told fabulous credible lies as a five year old, and has been practicing various modes of storytelling ever since.
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MAYA WILLIAMS (ey/they/she) as Green & Murderer with Exton
Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who was selected as Portland, ME's seventh poet laureate for a July 2021 to July 2024 term. Maya has published four poetry collections. The full lengths were nominated for the New England Book Award and Maine Literary Award and the chapbooks won awards from Garden Party Collective and The Headlight Review. Maya's spoken word was selected for three Patrons' Choice Awards by PortFringe in 2019, 2022, and 2024. Ey performed in person and online with companies and organizations such as Maddy's Theatre, Bare Portland, Speak About It, Mad Horse Theatre Company, Chimera Theatre Collective, Acorn Productions, Portland Stage, and Dramatic Repertory Company. Favorite roles include Lauren in At The Table, Jo in The Legend of Georgia McBride, and Mx. Melo in Morris Micklewhite & The Tangerine Dress. They co-directed for the first time with Joshua N Hsu for Mad Horse Theatre Company's production of White for their 38th season. Maya is ecstatic to make her Fenix Theatre debut with lovely theatre community members and friends. Follow em at mayawilliamspoet.com
MICHAEL WOOD as Welsh Captain & Gardener & Exton's Servingman
Michael Wood is excited for his first venture with Fenix Theatre. Other Maine credits include Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, Shear Madness, Mrs. Mannerly, Act One (Good Theater); [title of show] (Dramatic Rep); As You Like It, Richard II, and The Importance of Being Earnest (Theater at Monmouth). Michael has performed across the country with Beau Jest Moving Theatre, Charles Playhouse, Ford’s Theatre, Gloucester Stage Co., The Gold Dust Orphans, Imagination Stage, The Kennedy Center, Lyric Stage Boston, Portland Stage Co., Prather Entertainment, Olney Theatre Center, Shakespeare Theatre Co., and Wheelock Family Theater. Michael has an A.B. from Bowdoin College, an MFA in Classical Acting from GW/Shakespeare Theatre Co., and studied at Ecole Jacques Lecoq, in Paris, France.
SALLY WOOD as Northumberland
Bio coming soon.
SARABELL WRIGLEY as Bushy & Gardener's Servingman & Murderer w. Exton
Bio coming soon.
Meet the Production Team
Michael Dix Thomas (he/him) - Director
MICHAEL DIX THOMAS is an actor, director, and teacher from Maine. He has directed for Portland Stage, Theater at Monmouth, Maddy’s Theater at CMTM, and Keene State College. He has performed with the Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Shakespeare and Company, Portland Stage, Portland Theater Festival, Fenix Theatre, and Theater at Monmouth. Michael is the Director of Education and Community Engagement at Ogunquit Playhouse and was a co-founder of both the Lorem Ipsum Theatre Collective and the PortFringe Theater Festival. Michael holds a B.A. from Emerson College and an M.F.A. from the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s STC Academy at the George Washington University.
Where to find us
RICHARD II: A PLAY IN A DAY performs at The Hill Arts, 76 Congress St, Portland ME.
It is accessible by public transit bus, walking, and there is free street parking in the East End neighborhood.
Special Thanks
The Hill Arts
Kat Moraros Photography
Marcus Kyd
and Taffety Punk
