Our History
Our Founder
Garfield Shakespeare Company was founded by Joe Cook in 2006.
In remembrance of Joe Cook (1941-2018)
Joe moved to Indiana from Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from Fair Oaks High School. He received a master’s degree from Indiana State College and married Judy Carr with whom he had 3 children. Joe became a Spanish and History teacher and worked at Ben Davis High School. He retired in 1997 and started a Health Food Store in Danville with his wife. He was very active in the Hendricks County Community Theatre and was President of the Indiana Retired Teachers Association.
After his wife died, Joe moved to Indianapolis and became active in the Shakespeare scene in Garfield Park. He would then move on to approach the park about establishing a permanent resident theater company, which was enthusiastically received. Ever since, we have been known as the Garfield Shakespeare Company. Joe met Bradley Jones, who became the company’s costumer and created many of the costumes we still use to this day, in 2003 and they later married in 2017.
Bradley was a professional hairdresser and had a passion for the arts, which he displayed through painting, baking, sewing and making quilts. He was a regular participant in the state fair and earned awards in their top three categories on multiple occasions.
Joe passed away in 2018, followed by Bradley in 2024. They leave behind a legacy that has gone on to bring many people together.
In remembrance of Bradley Jones (1950 - 2024)
A Message from Our Founder and Former Artistic Director
Joe Cook
““In 2004, I moved to Indianapolis near Garfield Park. By this time, I had more than 30 years of experience doing community theater in Central Indiana and had started two theater companies that are still in operation. My specific area of interest had already centered on Shakespeare and the classics. As I looked at Garfield Park, I was reminded that back in the 1980s, it had been rather famous for an annual Shakespeare in the Park program, but as far as I knew, there had been no theater in the park for 10 years or more.
I had been pondering for some time how Indiana is one of the few states in the nation that does not have a permanent, ongoing Shakespeare Festival. Since Garfield Park was already associated with Shakespeare, it seemed like the appropriate place to start a company that might in time grow to fill this need for Indiana. I also felt it was important that the company would always welcome people of any age or experience level who wanted to participate in classic theater, no matter how professional we might eventually become. I would also insist that our performances be done on a free-admission basis, so that families could attend regardless of their financial status.
With these ideas in mind, I approached the Garfield Park managers about the possibilities of bringing in a new Shakespeare Company. The idea was enthusiastically received, and a partnership with Indy Parks was eventually worked out that would allow us to use the Garfield Park Arts Center and the MacAllister Center for the Performing Arts amphitheater for rehearsals and performances.
We started with an introductory program called SHAKESPEARE’S LOVERS, a collection of scenes from various plays. Finally, in 2008, we presented our first full-scale production, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW. We had already done the show as an “out of town” tryout in Franklin, Indiana, where it was a great success. Bradley Jones received an Encore Award for Best Costumes, and many of the actors were nominated for their performances. We have since produced ROMEO AND JULIET, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, TWELFTH NIGHT, AS YOU LIKE IT, MACBETH, HAMLET, Bernard Shaw’s PYGMALION, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, a reprise of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, Thornton Wilde’s THE MATCHMAKER and THE TEMPEST.
In addition to our two-show seasons, we performed a short version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM for the summer camp children in several of the Indy Parks two years ago. We are now in our seventh full season and planning two “firsts” in 2014 — a full year of modern, non-Shakespearean performances, beginning in the spring with ANTIGONE, the Jean Anouilh adaptation of the Sophoclean tragedy, followed in late summer by the other “first” — GSC’s inaugural musical, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s CAMELOT.
We are very proud of the quality of our productions, especially since they must be done as economically as possible. Currently we have no outside funding; our only source of income is audience donations. We use the income from one show to produce the next. This is possible because we have built a collection of furniture, props, costumes, and building materials that we can re-use. When we acquire new items, we try to make them things that could possibly be used for different purposes in future productions.””
Garfield Shakespeare Company 2010 - 2016
Beginning in 2010, Joe Konz, photographer and retired newspaperman, graciously produced a photo archive of 13 Garfield Shakespeare Company productions. The following photos and recaps are sourced from his blog, available here.
All photos in the section below are © by Joe Konz.
Macbeth: A Colonial Tragedy, autumn 2010
William Shakespeare
This production was significant in that Artistic Director Joe Cook elected to bring in an "outsider," Thomas Cardwell, to direct, and Cardwell elected to transform the storyline from Shakespeare's original 11-century Scotland to pre-Revolutionary War in the American colonies.
Lady Macbeth (Meagan Matlock) and Macbeth (Eric MacDonald).
The three witches, or "three weird sisters" as Macbeth refers to them in the play, doing a dance while concocting a brew.
Macbeth has a disturbing vision in which he sees a procession of kings from the lineage of onetime friend Banquo, a vision prophesied by the three witches.
Pygmalion, Spring 2011
George Bernard Shaw
Pygmalion marked GSC's first venture outside of Shakespeare. One of my lasting memories of that production was the number of times Artistic Director Joe Cook repeated a factoid that the play's author, George Bernard Shaw, detested the name "George" and never used it personally or professionally. So Joe made a point to make all oral and printed references to Shaw (for publicity and in the printed programs given to audience members on show nights) as Bernard Shaw.
Departing from Shakespeare was kind of bold for the all-volunteer troupe, given that there were royalties to be reckoned with (negotiated and paid) for the revenue-strapped theater troupe if a play it chose to perform were not old enough to be in the public realm like Shakespearean works.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, autumn 2011
William Shakespeare
GSC's Joe Cook liked long, involved titles, hence the mouthful you read above instead of the simple Hamlet, by which almost everybody knows this play.
Title character Hamlet (above right, played by Peter Lindbloom) eyes the skull of jester Yorick, handed to him by a gravedigger (played by Tony Van Pelt), who was preparing a final resting place for Ophelia, daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes. Ophelia had drowned after falling into a stream from a tree she had climbed. She'd climbed the tree while experiencing incoherence associated with mental illness.
When Horatio sees Hamlet dying, he attempts to drink from the poisoned cup, too, so he can join his good friend in death. But Hamlet manages to take the cup away and tells Horatio he needs to stay alive so there is someone he can trust who can deal with repairing Hamlet’s reputation. Horatio complies.
GSC Artistic Director Joe Cook played the faceless ghost, who identifies himself as Hamlet's father and tells Hamlet (Lindbloom in the background) that Claudius was responsible for his death.
The Taming of the Shrew, spring 2012
William Shakespeare
This was one of two GSC productions (that I'm aware of) in which a significant role was played by two performers because the person originally cast had prior commitments on the second weekend of the show dates.
Tempiellen Knutsen was cast as Bianca in this production (she had also had the role of Ophelia in 2011's Hamlet) but performed only in the first weekend’s shows. Those shows were staged at The Sanctuary, a then-new event-hosting facility owned by her father on North Pennsylvania Street in downtown Indianapolis.
GSC returned to the Garfield Park Arts Center for the second weekend of shows. Taking Tempiellen's place as Bianca was Elysia Rohn. Elysia and her mother, Denise, were in the casts of early GSC productions.
J.D. Bonitz, in a moment of shock in the play.
Katharina with the second Bianca, Elysia Rohn, in a rehearsal at the Garfield Park Arts Center, where the second weekend of shows was held.
Tempiellen Knutsen as Bianca.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, autumn 2012
William Shakespeare
Midsummer is a vivid production for me because of my son Ben’s role as King Theseus in the production.
This play was the first time I really noticed the wonderful costuming work of GSC’s Bradley Jones. In the photos below, pay close attention especially to the makeup and costuming for the characters Oberon, Titania, Puck and Fairy No. 1.
Ben Konz as King Theseus with Lexie Brown (center) as Queen Hippolyta and Christy Walker as Hermia.
Susan Yeaw as Titania with Stephen Foxworthy as Oberon.
J.D. Bonitz was delightful as the mischief fairy Puck.
Gabby Sandefer as Fairy No. 1.
Sept 9th, 2012: Spencer Elliott (Demetrius) proposing to Ashley Chase (Helena) during a rehearsal of their scene in act 4 scene 1.
Other cast members witnessed, enjoyed and applauded the moment from the amphitheater's seats.
Sept 10th, 2024: Joel Bonitz taking a page from Spencer’s book and proposing to Cheri Walker-Owens during a rehearsal of Twelfth Night.
Joel Bonitz (Sebastian) and Cheri Walker-Owens (Olivia) newly engaged.
The Matchmaker, spring 2013
Thornton Wilder
This romantic comedy was GSC's second non-Shakespearean production, a 1954 rewrite of Thornton Wilder's 1938 one-act play The Merchant of Yonkers.
Kate Schneider plays Irene Molloy, a milliner, the early object of Vandergelder's romantic interest.
Laura Kelley as matchmaker Dolly Levi and Jonathan Kratzner as the wealthy merchant and widower Horace Vandergelder.
The Tempest, autumn 2013
William Shakespeare
The Tempest, believed to be the last play Shakespeare wrote entirely on his own, was riddled with casting problems for GSC. Several weeks into practices, Cook abandoned his role as director to take over the role of Gonzalo when the man originally cast in the role withdrew and took his son (who had a bit role) along with him. Assistant director Chris Burton took over as director.
The real issue, which threatened to cancel the production, came much later into rehearsals when the man cast in the lead role of Prospero also abandoned. Not wanting to also abandon the production, Cook persuaded Eduardo Torres, a member of the faculty in the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township, to take the role.
Island spirit Ariel (left, played by J.D. Bonitz) and Eduardo Torres as Prospero.
The costuming of repulsive island beast Caliban, played by Mike Merrick, had to be among GSC Assistant Artistic Director Bradley Jones' crowning achievements with the troupe.
Antigone, spring 2014
Jean Anouilh
After the Garfield Shakespeare Company decided to make 2014 a full season of contemporary, non-Shakespearean productions, Cook handed off directing duties of this spring production to Chris Burton.
In Sophocles’ version of the play in ancient Greece, the focus falls on Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, and the loss of so much family in the tragedy. French dramatist Jean Anouilh advanced the story to 1940s Nazi-occupied France, and the emphasis turned to Antigone, Creon's niece, and her moral and political resolve. Anouilh enhanced the second-half scene involving niece and uncle and turned it into a powerful exchange, one that left both Nazis and the French resistance debating whether Anouilh meant to favor one side or the other, something Anouilh would never set straight entirely.
Burton’s approach to depict all characters in the play as stone figures coming to life to tell the story by painting streaks of silver speckle on their faces certainly was a step out of the box of comfort for GSC. And as tedious of a process the face makeup applications were before each show, the cast seemed excited about trying something new.
Kerry Laine Stauffer as Antigone.
Caleb “Kabs” Slocum as Creon.
GSC veteran Elizabeth Fasbinder as Page, Creon's attendant.
Camelot, summer 2014
Alan Jay Lerner, librettist and lyricist, and Frederick Loewe, composer
Music for the GSC production by Symphonic Youth Orchestra of Greater Indianapolis
Shawn Goodman, conductor; Linda Parr, musical director
This had to be Garfield Shakespeare Company’s most ambitious production in its modest history while I was doing photo archiving for the troupe. It had never attempted a musical before. It also was the troupe’s third non-Shakespearean endeavor. And it completed what would be a first-ever full season of contemporary and non-Shakespearean shows.Jay Brubaker and married couple Joshua and Desiree Law were cast in the lead characters of King Arthur, Guenevere and Sir Lancelot. The Laws’ children, Evan and Destiny, also were in the cast, as was Brubaker’s daughter, Eirene. In the photo below are (from left), Joshua, Desiree and Jay.
The Merry Wives of Windsor, spring 2015
William Shakespeare
Kassy Cayer as Mistress Meg Page.
Peggy Herrod (as Mistress Quickly) with Precious Highbaugh (as Peter Simple).
Falstaff (Chris Burton) after being exposed as the lecher that he is, he gets his just due from the wives/fairies.
Othello, summer 2015
William Shakespeare
This production was notable for the fact that after its regularly scheduled run at MacAllister Amphitheater ended, GCS took its cast and re-presented the show a month later as one of three theater company entries on the program for the debut of Indy Bard Fest, which was hoped to be an annual event. The program for the festival's first year, which covered a two-week period, was staged at Carmel Theatre Company, 15 First Ave. N.E., in the north suburb of Carmel.
Tyler Gordon (right) played the title character, a Moorish army general; Kate Ghormley played his wife, Desdemona.
The Importance of Being Earnest, spring 2016
Oscar Wilde
This is the fourth contemporary, non-Shakespearean drama GSC undertook in my years photographing the troupe's productions in Indianapolis.
The Oscar Wilde comedy dates to 1895, and GSC was gifted with the return of some of its finest performers from previous shows — among them Spencer Elliott, Ashley Chase Elliott, Christy Walker, William Baker, Kate Ghormley, John Garlick and David Santangelo.
Cecily Cardew (center), played by GSC newcomer Bita Eisenhut, is flanked by Ms. Fairfax (left) and Lady Bracknell.
Ashely Chase Elliott, as Gwendolyn Fairfax, Lady Bracknell's daughter and object of the affection of Worthing (Spencer Elliott).
Miss Prism (Christy Walker) takes a liking to Rev. Canon Chasuble (John Garlick), who is summoned to christen Jack and Algernon.
Romeo and Juliet, summer 2016
William Shakespeare
This show was the swan song for Artistic Director Joe Cook and Assistant Artistic Director Bradley A. Jones. It also was the last troupe production I photographed.
J.D. Bonitz returned to play the lead and title character. Also back were Andy Sturm, William Baker, Bita Eisenhut Paige, Zoe Cunningham (who had been in the cast of Camelot), Guy Grubbs (who had been in Antigone and Camelot) and Peggy Herrod, who had appeared in the cast of The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Because of prior commitments, Eisenhut Paige shared the role of Juliet with understudy Sabrina Duprey. The former played the role the first weekend of shows, and Duprey handled the remainder. When she wasn't Juliet, Duprey had a non-speaking role in the play's dance formal ball dance scene, as shown in the first photo below. With her in that photo is first-time GSC performer Knicholas Grimes as County Paris.
On April 1, 2018, less than two years after he left GSC, Joe Cook died of cancer. Six years later, on July 10, 2024, Bradley Jones passed away.
J.D. Bonitz (as Romeo) with Sabrina Duprey (as Juliet).
Bita Eisenhut-Paige as Juliet.
Lady and Lord Capulet, played by Erin Hamilton and Bill Baker, are overcome by grief upon learning of the death of their daughter, Juliet.