Executive Artistic Director - Olena Hodges (she/her; Founding ISF Company Member, 15th season with ISF) is honored to lead the team making the magic of ISF happen. Her passions for Shakespeare and social justice began early in childhood and have become the driving force of her artistic life. She believes deeply in the humanity inherent in classical texts as a vehicle for contemporary social examination and change. Olena grew up on Whidbey, spending much of her time on the Whidbey Children’s Theater stage, and could not be prouder to contribute to the rich artistic realm of this community through ISF. Favorite roles on the ISF stage include Rosalind in As You Like It, Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, and Desdemona in Othello (among many others). She holds a BFA in Performance from Southern Oregon University and is a graduate of Circle in The Square Theater School and the inaugural class of Leadership Whidbey.
olena.hodges@islandshakespearefest.org
Operations Director - Angelica Metcalfe (she/her; 9th season with ISF) feels so fortunate to be returning to the Island Shakespeare Festival for yet another year of fun! She has been their stage manager, production manager, and any other role she has to step into to get the job done. She graduated cum laude from Western Washington University with a BA in stage management and has worked for theatres all over Washington state including Village Theatre KIDSTAGE, the Mount Baker Theatre, Western Washington University, the Bellingham Theatre Guild, Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA), and of course, ISF. She moved to Whidbey Island full time in 2019 where she likes to walk on the beach to look specifically for moon snails, play video games, and use all the power tools to build things. She would like to thank her mom and dad, her friends, her dog Luna, her island family, and the entire staff and board at ISF.
angelica.metcalfe@islandshakespearefest.org
Business Manager – Jordynn Keating (she/her) (3rd season with ISF) is excited to join the ISF team and immerse herself in the wonderful projects associated with the organization. She first fell in love with Whidbey Island as a barefooted little girl while visiting her aunts. It was a longtime dream come true when this California girl was finally able to call Whidbey home in October of 2021. Jordynn grew up in the Bay Area of California and received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a Concentration in Marketing from Sonoma State University. She has utilized her education for employment in multiple facets of business including banking, real estate and higher education. Her background will provide her with the foundation, combined with her enthusiasm, to help ISF continue to serve this special community. Jordynn also works as a private tutor and substitute paraeducator and secretary for the South Whidbey School District. In her free time, you can usually find her exploring outside with her rescued dog, Ren, or strengthening her green thumb in her garden. She also has an adopted cat named Clover and a chicken named Lucy Mae.
Communications Assistant – Patricia Duff (she/her; 4th season with ISF) is thrilled to be welcomed onto the ISF team. Patricia has been writing about the arts on Whidbey Island ever since she moved here from Seattle (via Boston, Chicago, Honolulu) in 2006. She was the arts and entertainment reporter for the South Whidbey Record, the first editor of Whidbey Life Magazine, where she also contributed her Duff ‘n Stuff blog, and has offered her communications skills to several arts organizations and non-profit boards generally for the past 17 years. She currently volunteers her writing services to the Whidbey Island Dance Theatre board and to the Executive Committee at OutCast Productions at the Black Box Theater in Langley.
Patricia is also an avid actor and director in this community and has graced the ISF stages as Capulet in ISF’s second season production of “Romeo and Juliet” and more recently, as Holofernes in the 2022 season of “Loves Labour's Lost.” She has acted and danced in more than 20 productions on island stages.
Duff is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she received a B.A. in English, and (where she fell in love with acting) and later studied creative writing at Columbia College Chicago, while working as an actor in Chicago. Duff has been acting for 32 years. Ouch!
patricia.duff@islandshakespearefest.org
Erin Murray -Interim Artistic Director (she/her) (6th season with ISF) Erin’s 20 year directing career has spanned the Northern Hemisphere. She directed the 2005 Irish premiere of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which won Best Production at the Speigeltent. From 2005-2008, Erin was the staff director for Opera Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland, where she toured five European tours. Stateside, Erin has created projects for Edinburgh International Fringe, New York Fringe, Steppenwolf Theater, The Gift Theater Chicago, Intiman Theater, ArtsWest, Island Shakespeare Festival, Witness Immersive, and Seattle Shakespeare Company. Erin co-created Gender Play, or what you Will with Will Wilhelm, which premiered in 2023 with Chicago’s About Face Theater. It was nominated for three Jeff Awards including “Best New Work.” Education: Northwestern University, MFA, Trinity College Dublin, BA; SDC Associate Member. patricia.duff@islandshakespearefest.org
Roxanne Kröon Shepherd – President; Treasurer (she/her) (4th season with ISF) It all started with the need for a mask during the height of COVID. One day, wearing a Bard’s Boutique-purchased mask in Langley, Roxanne was delighted to hear Olena Hodges say, “Hey, I made your mask!” which launched her journey to join the Board. Roxanne is a 37+ year veteran fundraiser who has served organizations in K-12 and higher education, health, and, predominantly, the arts. Roxanne is proud to have been a participant in Leadership Whidbey's first cohort and to have served two communities as a Rotarian for over three decades.
Melanie Curtright - Secretary (she/her), (2nd season with ISF) has been a Shakespeare geek since her mother dressed her as Ophelia for Halloween when she was four. She has been a systems/technology consultant in a variety of industries for longer than she would like to admit, but has always wanted to engage her right brain in more artistic pursuits. She moved to Whidbey two years ago, discovered ISF, and was hooked. She has been on the board for the past year, doing anything that Olena and Angelica need her to do. An avid reader and occasional painter, you will also find her gardening and hiking beautiful Whidbey!
Cassidy Patnoe (he/him) (4th season with ISF) grew up on South Whidbey and is a 2020 graduate from the Seattle University School of Law. After working in secondary education for over five years, Cassidy decided to change paths and pursue the legal profession. Prior to his legal pursuits, he coached public forum debate in Sitka, Alaska and was awarded “Coach of the Year” for the state in 2015. After law school, and a short stint as an attorney, Cassidy veered back into education. He is currently a History and Civics teacher at Coupeville High School. Along with his law degree, Cassidy holds a BA in English Literature from Western Washington University, and a Master’s in Teaching from the University of Alaska Southeast. Outside of work, Cassidy enjoys working on classic cars, tabletop gaming, blacksmithing, and spending time outdoors with friends and family.
Vivian West (she/her) (1st season with ISF) joined the Island Shakespeare Festival’s Board of Directors in February of this year, after moving to Oak Harbor from Bothell. Prior to retiring last summer, Vivian spent over 35 years working in the Healthcare Technology industry as a Consultant and Project Manager for hospitals, consulting firms and software vendor companies. From 2014–2020, Vivian served on the Board of Directors for Homeward Pet Adoption Center (an animal shelter for dogs and cats) in Woodinville, working to support finding forever homes for the shelter animals. Vivian’s hobbies include playing the violin, guitar and singing, and attending live theatre whenever possible.
Peggy Juve – Emeritus (she/her) | Costume & Paint Assistant | Founding Mother | Board Emeritus (13th season with ISF - Founding Board President) was there when it all began with As You Like It in 2010. She assisted Rosie in costuming and has continued that tradition throughout assisting when needed with everything from set painting to engineering props and filling water bottles. Notable contributions include the ghost of Hamlet Sr. for Hamlet and hats galore for all manner of shows. Peggy began her volunteer costuming with Whidbey Children’s theatre in 1998. Favorites in no particular order are: The Taffetas (twice), Alice Through the Lookinglass, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Wind in the Willows, Charlotte’s Web, Quilters, Annie, Les Mis, I Never Saw Another Butterfly to name a few. Juve is a painter and a surface design artist who has created one-of-a-kind art to wear for the past four and a half decades. Her work has been seen in a multitude of publications and galleries around the country.
Rob Scott – Emeritus (he/him) recently retired from a forty-year career in Information Security and Systems Administration. He has been involved in supporting and encouraging theater and the performing arts on Whidbey Island for over twenty years since his daughter began participating in Martha Murphy’s children’s theater classes shortly after moving his family to Langley. Rob was a founding board member of Whidbey Children’s Theater, serving for the first five years as both a board member and as volunteer Technical Director. He has been involved with over twenty-five Whidbey Island Center for the Arts productions as stage manager, technician, or acting company member, and was a member of Whidbey Chamber Singers and then Island Consort Singers for the past ten years. Rob grew up immersed in music performance and theater near Minneapolis and attended both Hamline University and the University of Minnesota prior to escaping icy winters and moving to the Seattle area. Rob is grateful for the opportunity to be able to support Island Shakespeare Festival in their mission of providing accessible classical theater for all patrons.