Production Staff

Ezra August Bender is thrilled to be back for their fourth season with Idaho Shakespeare Festival, and their second season as properties lead! A graduate of Baldwin Wallace University, Ezra is a properties artisan, scenic artist, actor, and scenic designer based in Cleveland, OH. They have worked on the stage and/or behind the scenes at Great Lakes Theater, Split Stage Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, and more. They would like to thank Rachel, their family, Edgar and Mona, for their continual love and support.

Mark is returning for his seventeenth season at Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Mark also is technical director at Great Lakes Theater in Cleveland Ohio and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. He enjoys the opportunity to explore all that is Idaho and feels privileged to be able to call Boise home three months a year. He earned his BA in theater from Beloit College.

Tenth season with Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Previously, stage manager for The Heart of Robin Hood, Dial M for Murder, Noises Off, Peter and the Starcatcher, Murder on the Orient Express, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sense and Sensibility, Dracula, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado about Nothing, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, and A Christmas Carol (6x), assistant stage manager for Little Shop of Horrors, Sleuth (GLT), The Music Man, Witness for the Prosecution, Misery, Macbeth and Pride and Prejudice; and production assistant for Hamlet, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at GLT and ISF. Assistant stage manager for Every Brilliant Thing at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Nicki earned her BFA in radio, television, and film from the University of North Texas. She teaches stage management at Baldwin Wallace University, is a member of AEA, and is forever thankful to work with her husband and friends in the great outdoors.

Twenty seasons. As a costume designer her work includes last season’s Peter and the Starcatcher, Murder on the Orient Express, Witness for the Prosecution, The 39 Steps, Sleuth, Les Misérables, The Fantasticks, and others. Esther has been on staff with consortium partner Great Lakes Theater since 2003 as wardrobe supervisor and draper before assuming her current role as costume director for ISF and the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in 2011. Additional production credits with Cleveland Opera Theater, Beck Center for the Arts, Dobama Theater, Baldwin Wallace University, Case Western Reserve University/ Cleveland Play House, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and Chautauqua Theater. Esther is a proud graduate of SUNY Fredonia and native of Syracuse, New York. Many thanks to her heroic husband Richard, the amazing costume, wardrobe, and wigs teams and the greater Boise community.

Fourth season, second in this position. Halcyon is a lighting technician and designer based in Cleveland, OH as a member of the year-round staff at Great Lakes Theater. He is excited to return for his fourth season of great theater in the great outdoors! Halcyon earned his BFA in theatre design and production with a lighting emphasis from Oklahoma City University in 2024. Other production credits include Music Theatre Wichita, Oklahoma City Ballet, Orlando Ballet, and Beck Center for the Arts (Cleveland, OH). When he’s not at the theater, you might find him rock climbing, reading a good book, or being the obedient servant of his cat Blossom.

First full season. Lucia is excited to come back to Idaho Shakespeare Festival for her first full season as audio supervisor. Lucia is also audio supervisor for Great Lakes Theater and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. Lucia graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music in 2025, where she earned her BFA in sound design and technology. At CCM, her credits included sound designer for Coppelia, assistant sound designer for Emilia and Dialogues of the Carmelites, and production sound engineer for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wonderful Town, and The Cunning Little Vixen. Professional credits include associate sound designer for Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson- Apt. 2B at The Human Race Theatre (Dayton, OH), and A1 for Always… Patsy Cline and The Color Purple at The Carnegie (Covington, KY).