Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Poole, Shannon Hill, Demetria Thomas.
Patrick Poole, Shannon Hill, Demetria Thomas, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our story starts in both Michigan and New Jersey. Shannon Hill is a native to Portage and grew up doing theatre in the area. She was on stage at the Civic, Shakespeare in the Park, Kindleberger, and eventually Western Michigan University. After graduating from WMU’s theatre program, she was accepted into the Professional Actor Training Programm at the University of Houston where she earned her MFA. And that’s where she crossed paths with Patrick.
Patrick Poole’s story starts 800 miles east in South Jersey, about 40 minutes outside of Philadelphia. And that’s where he got his first taste of theatre. Growing up, Patrick was fortunate enough to go to shows at The Walnut Street Theatre, America’s oldest continuously operating theatre. As far back as he can remember, he was enthralled by the shows there, and it’s because of those experiences that he fell into theatre. After becoming a dancer in sixth grade, he was eventually forced into the high school musical as a sophomore because he was the only boy in the entire 1500-hundred person school who could tap dance. Over the next decade, Patrick performed as much as he could through high school, college, and after graduating. He got a taste of Shakespeare in college, and thought it was fine, but was more interested in contemporary plays and musicals. Eventually, his ability to do theatre dwindled as he became an admissions counselor at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He enjoyed the career and knew he could probably do it for the rest of his professional life, but he decided to try for graduate school one more time. He had auditioned unsuccessfully twice before, and he knew this was the last attempt. If there were no viable offers (or no offers at all), he would know he was where he was meant to be. However, he was accepted into his number one choice, DePaul University, as well as a couple of others. One of those others was the University of Houston. It was a school Patrick hadn’t considered, but the program aligned almost perfectly with what Patrick was looking for in a program. Intensive, classically focused, and financially possible. Once he was there, he was shocked at how much he enjoyed the work. It was the first time in his entire life he was able to focus solely on theatre training, and it was incredible. And that’s where Patrick met Shannon, which sealed taking that leap into grad school as the best decision he ever made.
Shannon graduated a year before Patrick, and continued performing and teaching in Houston for another year, working with multiple theatres in the city. After Patrick graduated, Shannon traveled to Chicago to teach, perform, and take a position as Artistic Director for Festival 56 in Princeton, IL. Patrick was hired by American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA where he performed as a member of their touring and resident companies for two years. Eventually, Patrick and Shannon ended up in Chicago together, and over a five-year period lived and worked in Princeton, IL and the Philadelphia area.
After moving to Philly in 2018, they began pursuing acting careers in the area. That fall they got married, however, less than a month later, Patrick was diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes. Having gone months being undiagnosed, recovery and management of the disease took nearly a year. Shannon was also dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic performance experience, which took years to overcome. However, that didn’t stop her from making connections in the theatre world and working with a number of groups as a director, teacher, administrator, and volunteer. During this time, Patrick was working in the tourism industry in Philly, working as a tour guide and historical interpreter for The Battleship New Jersey, Independence Visitors Center, and the Museum of the American Revolution. He began auditioning in 2019 and did that for about six months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and shut everything down. They still worked with some theatres in the city with virtual events in 2021, but much of their theatrical focus was redirected toward their newborn daughter, Rosalind (yes, they are Shakespeare nerds), who was born in the fall of 2021.
In the summer of 2022, Patrick was hired by Hope Repertory Theatre in Holland, MI as a performer, company manager, and COVID Safety Officer. It being only an hour north of Portage, where Shannon’s parents still lived, Shannon and Roz moved in with them for the summer. While there, Shannon and Patrick realized that moving to the Kalamazoo area was the best thing for their family, so they decided to leave Philly and be nearer to Shannon’s parents.
Their time in Philadelphia was less prosperous for their theatre careers than they had hoped, but it is an amazing city that they will always hold close to their hearts. So much so that Shannon has officially joined Patrick as a die-hard fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. Go Birds!
Once in Portage, Shannon continued working as a content project manager for F.A. Davis, a family-owned medical textbook publishing company that she has proudly worked for since 2018. Patrick continues working as a virtual classroom producer and community manager for Elsie, an online company providing technical support and resources for virtual meetings and events. He also became a teaching artist with Education for the Arts and an adjunct professor with Grand Valley State University. He returned to Hope Rep for one more summer in 2023, and has also performed with Farmers Alley Theatre and Endstation Theatre Company in Lynchburg, VA.
Moving to Portage was incredibly important for their family as they also welcomed their son, Sebastian (See? Nerds.), in the fall of 2024.
During their time in the area, they discovered a Shakespeare-shaped hole in the theatre community. With their backgrounds in classical theatre, administration, education, and production, they felt it was a perfect opportunity to start the nonprofit, Shakespeare in Kalamazoo. While a newer fixture in the community, SIK strives to provide Kalamazoo with experience, education, and performance in classical theatre as the home for Shakespeare in the area.
Demetria’s first foray into Shakespeare was an ensemble role in The Tempest at the University of Southern Mississippi. After transferring to Grand Valley State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s in Theatre, Demetria went on to work as a Journeyman in the Warehouse Theatre’s (Greenville, SC) Journeyman Program. During this time Demetria served as founding Executive Producer of the Upstate Shakespeare Festival, now the official Shakespeare Festival of the State of South Carolina.
Over the course of nearly two decades working in Chicago and regionally throughout the Midwest, Demetria earned roles at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, and the Houston Shakespeare Festival, where she worked with both Shannon and Patrick.
Demetria’s career as a director began right after the pandemic, and has led her to direct shows at The University of Houston, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Hope Repertory (where she served as Artist-in-Residence), and now with Grand Valley State University where she is an Assistant Professor of Theatre, teaching acting & directing. This year Demetria will direct professionsl shows for Flint Repertory Theater, Ebony Road Players, Actors Theatre Grand Rapids, as well as two educational shows for GVSU.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A life in theatre is never really a smooth road. Making a livable income is always one of the usual suspects. We lived through the pandemic, which created challenges that were unthinkable for us before 2020. We are no strangers to professional disappointments, as is also very common with a life built in theatre, which has led to a lot of time and energy spent adjusting goals, managing expectations, planning, relocating, and rebuilding. Chronic illness is also something we live with every day since 2018, another unexpected obstacle thrown in our way. We’re still luckier than most, but it has not always been smooth.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Shakespeare in Kalamazoo is the one-stop home for anyone looking to connect with Shakespeare. We provide opportunities for the community to experience classical works through shows, classes, events, clubs, and more. We are also excited to partner with other organizations to create a wide spectrum of fantastic experiences that make Shakespeare accessible, clear, fun, and relevant.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Sunday, October 26th at 8pm is our first show, Macbeth: Out Damn Hops!, a drunken Shakespeare event at Bell’s Brewery. Tipsy actors, drinking games, audience involvement, a raffle, general hijinx, and a Shakespeare play. Absolutely no fun will be had.
Pricing:
- Macbeth: Out Damn Hops! – $25 presale, $30 at the door.
- Shakespeare Classes – 6 weeks – Once a week – 2 hours – $180
- Shakespeare Club – Once a mont0h – Free
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shakespeareinkzoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shakespeareinkzoo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576436635300
