Gene Kahane founded the foodbankplayers in order to support the vital work of the Alameda Food Bank, give local actors a chance to perform and because the stage in the Healing Garden called out to him one day. He is so deeply moved by everyone who has helped in so many ways: Tara as our first supporter, Scott for his passion and generosity, Luis the actor/web wizard, and all the actors and audiences. We all sing the same song, "What I did for love. "

Sally Geary was last seen in The Food Bank Players' production of "A Christmas Carol".

She has trained in improvisational skills and acting techniques with Diana Brown of the Leela Theatre in San Francisco.

Sally last appeared with the Player's in "Hamlet" in the roles Osric and the Priest.

Previous to that she appeared in "Much Ado About Noting" as Leonata, the governor of Messina.

Sally works for a large financial investment firm. Hobbies and interests include pet sitting, cooking, and following Chicago pro teams.

Sally is looking forward to future acting roles in Bay Area Theatre.

Kip Soucie is an embryologist, rock climber, and former (and now returning) theatre kid. She was previously seen playing the role of Tiny Tim in The Foodbank Players’ production of A Christmas Carol last December.

This is her second time acting in a full run of shows since fifth grade, as her background is in technical theatre.

David is exciting to join the cast of the show and be part of this terrific cast. He has been in plays from Point Richmond to San Leandro and feels that Alameda is his home away from home as he was in several musicals with Alameda Civic Light Opera. Some of his favorite roles are Grand Father in “Ragtime,” Paul in “The Marriage of Bette and Boo” and the Old Jew in “Incident at Vichy”. Many thanks to his family, who put up with absences, and to the all the teachers who help him to reach this moment in his life.

“I’ve always enjoyed storytelling in all its forms, and I love the challenges live performance presents.” - Kristen Peck (She/ Her/ They)

Kristen Peck is making her first debut on stage since high school. Her most memorable performances were as Dandelion in Alice In Wonderland and in a high school drama class' production of an opening scene of The Odd Couple (Female Version).

Kristen is grateful to have received training from such talents as Stacia Brinneman and Pam Rossi. She feels humbled by this opportunity to perform and learn alongside The Food Bank Players’ troop of gifted actors and new friends.

Benji Carver was born and raised in the backwoods of the Silicon Valley near Morgan Hill, California. Really if you know the town of Coyote. Benji has traveled across the United States on many road trips and back packed through Europe. He has worked in Mexico and the United States of A, filming various personal short films and helping out on the occasional feature film. He collects a variety of VHS tapes, movie posters, and other bizarre cinema items. When Benji is not working and shooting he enjoys his sleep and wearing a good pair of boots. Benji's heroes are Sam Peckinpah, Kathyrn Bigelow, Spike Lee, Jim Thompson, John Trudell, Wes Craven, Jack Hill, and Dorothy Parker.

Benji is Puck or Robin Goodfellow, you may call him in this production of A Midsommar’s Night Dream. Thanks director Robert Paine for the opportunity to play this part in this amazing ensemble and hopes you enjoy this mad mad mad spirit, Benji brings to life from the dead Bards’ words.

Bill is glad to return for another Foodbank Players Production! He was previously seen as Jacob Marley in the last December's A Christmas Carol.

VO artist for marketing videos & YouTube channels - model for music & industrial videos, marketing brochures & websites – play by play announcer - MC for charities - On stage: Words That Made The Difference - Much Ado About Nothing - Hamlet - The Marvelous Land of Oz (musical).

Lisa is excited to return to the Food Bank Players, having played Gertrude in Hamlet, last Summer, and Kate in Sylvia, their first production. Locally she has been seen in five shows at the Altarena: Cabaret, Chicago, The Savannah Sipping Society, La Cage Aux Folles, and Ruthless. She has been fortunate of late to perform in quite a few shows and is thrilled to be a part of live theatre's spectacular comeback. Recent performances include Elf (Mrs. Claus), Gypsy (Tessie Tura/Ms. Cratchitt), Cockettes Are Golden (Harlo), and Mamma Mia! (Tanya).

Other favorite roles: A Chorus Line (Sheila), Gypsy (Louise) & The Rocky Horror Show (Magenta/Usherette). It is truly an honor to be playing Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, in this The Food Bank Players' benefit production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lisa teaches sixth grade math & science at Park Day School, coaches cross country & track, and is mom to Julian and Austin. You are likely to see her running about town with her Schnoodle, Schatzi.

Luis is glad to return for another Foodbank Players Production! He was previously seen as Bob Cratchit in last December's A Christmas Carol.

His training includes the ACT Summer Congress and an apprenticeship with the Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, now known as the California Shakespeare Festival.

Stage experiences include appearances with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival as Sebastian in the Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night, as well as Benvolio in the Festival’s touring production of Romeo and Juliet. For the Tale Spinners Theater, Luis played Oscar in their production of The Trial of Los Siete, a play by Richard Talavera.

Luis enjoyed many appearances in children’s theater too! He portrayed the Humbug in the California Theater Wing’s production of The Phantom Tollbooth, and the Scarecrow in the New Shakespeare Company’s production of The Wizard of Oz.

Along with his love of acting, Luis delved into educational theater as Artistic Resident with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Educational Outreach Director of the Spindrift School of Performing Arts, and Director of Education with the Traverse City Children’s Theater.

Martie Muldoon is delighted to return to the Food Bank Players, where she was last seen as Friar/Antonia in Much Ado About Nothing. Since then she has directed (Guys and Dolls), designed props (Livermore Shakes), and preformed (Jake’s Women, Murder on the Orient Express, Lysistrata, Savannah Sipping Society). When not on stage, Martie is active in her church (Asbury UMC), bakes and delivers cupcakes for progressive causes (Bake Back Better), and especially enjoys being Oma to Cici and John!

Donna Blevins loves being part of the creative Food Bank Players. As a non-musical mortal, she is being challenged to add music to her Fairy scenes. Previously she was Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing and Spirit of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol. Donna also performs with Encore Players of Livermore, Sunol Repertory Theater and adapts scripts for Readers Theater at the Livermore Library. Thanks to all for supporting us and the food bank of Alameda.

Jamie Olsen is happy to return to the Food Bank Players for A Midsummer Night's Dream after having played Fred in December's production of A Christmas Carol. A believer that there is more to our reality than meets the eye, Jamie hopes that the nature spirits are pleased by our efforts. Bay Area audiences have also seen Jamie as Alan Dangle in the 2018 Altarena Playhouse production of One Man, Two Guvnors. When not performing Jamie spends his bright days as the VP of Digital for a media company, and his starry nights with his lovely wife, Leslie, and their cats, Ziggy & Belka.

Jennifer Orlick is originally from Los Angeles and now calls the Bay Area home. This is her first performance with the Food Bank Players. She performson Sunday evenings with Comedy Sportz Minor League in San José and performed with some of the cast previously in Words that Made a Difference, a play about the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court cases.

Kenneth Matis is excited to be performing in his third production for the Alameda Food Bank Players. Previously, he's had roles throughout the Bay Area from Marin to Half Moon Bay with the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley to Ross Valley Players. Most recently, he played Charles Condomine for San Leandro Player's "Blithe Spirit" and will be in Orinda Starlight Players' "The Secret of Chimneys" in June.

Karen Buchanan is grateful to be cast in another Foodbank Players production with such a talented group of fellow actors. Playing the role of Ursula in last year’s Foodbank Players production of Much Ado About Nothing was her first ever community theater acting experience, soon followed by a role as part of the ensemble in Vicki Siegel’s medieval musical comedy What Women Want, for Point Richmond’s Masquers Playhouse.

Although she is relatively new to theater acting, Karen started performing Standup Comedy in her early 20s in San Francisco Comedy Clubs, including the legendary Holy City Zoo, the Other Café and the Last Day Saloon, where she once got bumped off an open mic lineup by Robin Williams. Since she was one of those “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” Comedians, Karen quit the Comedy Scene to become a respectable suburban wife, Church Lady and Mill Valley Soccer Mom. She raised the kid, divorced the Wasband, reinvented her life and now produces a weekly Monday Comedy Show at Kaleidoscope Coffee in Point Richmond.

When she’s not on stage, Karen is an indefatigable Richmond Community board member and volunteer for several local organizations. She is a local Historian who leads popular History Hikes around the Bay Area and presents entertaining history slideshows for variety of community organizations. That Day Job she didn’t quit turned into a 27-year public agency career at the Golden Gate Bridge District, where she is currently a Risk Manager and Workers’ Comp Administrator.

Anna L. Joham, an award-winning actress and singer, is thrilled to be back with the Food Bank Players playing another one of her dream roles. Anna first fell in love with Midsummer when she saw it at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the production left an impact and she has always wanted to play Helena, ever since. She believes that everyone has a Shakespeare character that they personally relate to and for her Helena is that character. She’d like to thank Bob for giving her this opportunity and her scene partner for agreeing to come along on this ride. When she’s not performing Shakespeare, she performing in musical theatre productions around the bay, teaching all ages piano and voice lessons, and loves up on her two cats: Muse and Prima-Donna. She just finished portraying, Miss Thorn with Altarena Playhouse. Other past projects have included: Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing (Food Bank Players); Ernestina, Hello Dolly (Mountain Play); Stepmother, Into the Woods (Berkeley Playhouse); Lili / Kate, Kiss Me Kate (Pentacle Theatre); Ms. Pennywise, Urinetown (Spreckles Theater.) She invites you all to follow her on her website: http://annaljoham.wix.com/aljsoprano or at Life_of_a_theater_kid @ instagram.

Shayna Ann Howlett (they/them) is thrilled to work alongside the incredible Foodbank Players. They have previously appeared in the Foodbank Players' productions of A Christmas Carol (Mrs. Fezziwig/Joe the Ragpicker/Clara) and Hamlet (The Gravedigger). Other performance credits include Unapologetically Black (Sammie) and Eris Rising (Adrienne/Savannah) with Put Ur Play On Productions; Harvey(Myrtle Mae) with The San Leandro Players; The Comedy of Errors (Antipholus of Ephesus) with Prague Shakespeare Company; Hamlet(Rosencrantz) with the University of California, Berkeley Theater Department; and Dog Sees God (Van's Sister) and 1984 (The Loudspeaker) with Barestage Productions. You can see them perform as Leda in Stretchmarks: The Playdate for Mommas, 8PM on Saturday nights in San Francisco or onscreen in their upcoming short film roles, Claudia in "The Crab'' and Anna in "In the Fall". Follow them at @shay.how on Instagram.

Devon La Bar (They/Them) is incredibly excited to be back with The Foodbank Players. You may have seen them recently in The Foodbank Players' production of Hamlet, or Much Ado About Nothing, where they played Borachio. When they are not performing, Devon teaches musical theatre and Shakespeare with TYR in Alameda, as well as exercises their love for caffeine at Farley's, in Oakland. Being an avid lover of Dungeons and Dragons, as well as any RPGs, Devon also runs campaigns, teaching young players how to play and encouraging imaginations to grow, through TYR's Dungeons and Dragons program. Not to mention playing any chance they get with their own wonderful group of friends. They would like to extend an immense amount of thanks to everyone who helped bring this production to life, their fantastic friends and family, to everyone who supports arts in the community, and their beloved dog, Enzo.

As a Bay Area baby, Scout has been in a handful of school and local productions. His role in Midsummer will mark his 3rd performance in a Food Bank Players production. When not involved in theatre, Scout enjoys honing his musical talents on piano and indulging himself with television. After Midsummer concludes it's run, Scout plans to dedicate his spare time to his music.

Robert Paine is the former artistic director and a founding member of Virago Theatre Co. He’s worked as an Actor, Puppeteer, Writer and Director. Originally from Portland, Oregon.

Most recently, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in the Foodbank Players production of a Christmas Carol last December.

As an actor Robert recently appeared as Dogberry in “Much Ado About Nothing” and with Rhythmix Cultural Works “Island City Waterways” as “Radio Announcer” with as with Ohlone College, Theatre First, SF Fringe, San Jose Stage Co., Marin Theatre Co., New Conservatory Theatre, Stage Cartel, Portland Center Stage, Tygres Heart Shakespeare Co., Shakespeare in the Parks, Stark Raving Theatre and many others.

Favorite roles include Mattamore in Tony Kushner’s “The Illusion”, Dr. Spivey in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Mercutio in “Romeo and Juliet”, Porter\Murderer #2 in “Macbeth”, Angelo in “Measure for Measure”, Richard in “The Lady’s Not for Burning”, Oberon\Theseus and Bottom in “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, John in “Scotland Road”, Roger in “The Hermit Bird”, and many others.

As a puppeteer Robert’s worked with Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre as part of the UNIMA citation winning production of “Jumping Mouse”. Other roles included Aladdin and the voice of the Blue Genie in the original production of Jan Wilkowski’s “Aladdin and His Magic Lamp”, Baba Yaga and Koschey the Deathless in “Baba Yaga” and many others.

Heather Ondersma is thrilled to be working with AFB Players for the first time! Heather has worked as an intimacy coordinator/director on independent features, short films and theatre productions. She has lived/worked in North America, Asia, and Europe. Her specialties include collaborating on new plays, coming-of-age stories and historical pieces. Her theatre background includes two decades directing and producing over fifty plays (NYC, Prague, Santa Barbara, LA, Vancouver and the virtual realm). She has commissioned, directed or produced many plays that examine little-known stories of women in history. Heather trained for 3 years with Principal Intimacy Professionals’ certification program and with Theatrical Intimacy in Education (TIE). Member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab, National Society of Intimacy Professionals board member. heatherondersma@intimacysociety.com

Quinn Gilchrist (she/her) is a Bay Area native and studied Theatre at North Idaho College. This is her third production with the Food Bank Players, having assistant directed Hamlet and making a brief appearance in Christmas Carol as the Butcher. Some of her other credits include directing A Permanent Image at North Idaho College and reading for the Bay Area Playwrights Foundation's Literary Council. Outside of her various theater projects she works for the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department.

Abigail (Abbie) Keep found her love of stage work at Encinal High School as a crew member, props manager and stage manager on musical productions. She did some set building at Humboldt State University while working on her bachelor's degree in anthropology. While theater is wonderful fun her true passions lie in archaeology, she spent January of 2023 digging a Roman site in Portugal and will spend this Summer at a Medieval site in Poland. Try asking her about the oldest artifact she's ever held. In her own time she enjoys playing video

games, crocheting, and playing with her dog Nellie. She is excited to participate in theater after going without for the last few years.