The Tempest

Kashun Parks is an actor, director, and theatre leader with a passion for bringing layered characters and meaningful stories to life. Her selected acting credits include Celia in As You Like It, Sugar in Precious Little Things, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, and Nia in *InterseXtions*.Most recently, Kashun directed Anywhere Suddenly, an original work by Jason Tinney presented by Next Exit Productions. A few of her other directing credits include Doubt, Daughters of the Moon, The Vagina Monologues, Love Bites, and several productions developed through the Next Exit New Works Play Festival.Kashun is also the Executive Director and cofounder of Next Exit Productions, where she helps create opportunities for regional artists and supports the development of original, inclusive work. She is grateful to return to Shakespeare and to share the stage with this cast and creative team.

Maverick Murray (they/them) is incredibly excited and honored to make their Scenic City Shakespeare debut with The Tempest. After a lengthy hiatus, they returned to the stage this year in CTC’S production of Much Ado About Nothing as Claudio. By day, Maverick is grateful to make magic with Middle Tennessee Princess Parties as a Character Performer. In their free time, Maverick enjoys writing fantasies, sewing costumes, and telling stories with their friends in tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. They hope to one day lend their voice to video games and animation. Maverick would like to thank their beautiful partner Skye for her enthusiastic support of Maverick's dreams.

Holding a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Jim is a 4 time Chattanooga Theatre Centre Center Stage Award Winning Actor for his work as Nils Krogstad in A Doll's House, Clown #2 in The 39 Steps, George in Of Mice and Men, and Robert in Boeing, Boeing. Other theatres he has worked at include the Clarence Brown Theatre, The Tennessee Stage Company, The Ringgold Playhouse, and Next Exit Productions.

By day, Jeni Benavides is an Executive Assistant with the National Association for Public Defense, but her background is rooted in theatre. Her stage credits include Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Kate in Shakespeare in Love, Justine in Frankenstein, Prudence in Beyond Therapy, Lizzie in Blueberry Pie, Fabian in Twelfth Night, and Moll in Kid Simple: A Radio Play in the Flesh. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre with an acting emphasis from the University of South Carolina and her Master of Arts in Theatre from the University of Kentucky, where she also taught Introduction to Theatre. Jeni trained with the Pacific Performance Project in physical approaches to acting—work that became integral to her time with The Girl Project (now Voices Amplified), an arts-meets-activism program designed to inspire, educate, and empower high school students to challenge the misrepresentation of women in American media culture through performing arts education. She is a novice rock climber and taco enthusiast, and you can ask her about her cats any time you'd like.