James Andreassi, Artistic Director

James Andreassi is the founder and Artistic Director of The Elm Shakespeare Company. He has performed at theatres across the United States, including the Long Wharf Theatre, the American Repertory Theatre, the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, the Cleveland Playhouse, the Rep. of St. Louis, the Three River Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare & Co., the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, and the Pioneer Theatre Co. among many others.  

Mr. Andreassi has played such roles as "Petruchio" in The Taming of the Shrew, "Bazarov" in Brian Friel's adaptation of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, “Iago” in Othello, “Falstaff” in Henry IV, part 1, “Benedic” in Much Ado About Nothing, "Claudius" in Hamlet, "Athos" in The Three Musketeers, "Rocco" in Saturday, Sunday, Monday, the title roles in Macbeth, Richard III and Robin Hood, and "Alistair Fitzfassenden" in George Bernard Shaw's The Millionairess, opposite Raquel Welch.

For the Elm Shakespeare Company, Mr. Andreassi has directed Henry IV, Part 1, The Tempest, Macbeth, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night and Robin Hood. He directed the premier of The Flaming Spider: Jonathan Edwards in Northampton at Yale's University Theatre, and, at Southern Connecticut State University, he has directed Neil Simon's Rumors and Romeo and Juliet.  

In 1993/94, Mr. Andreassi was the first American to appear with a Chinese theatre troupe when he performed all over the People's Republic of China, and at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, in the Shanghai People's Art Theatre/Long Wharf Theatre co-production of The Joy Luck Club, directed by Arvin Brown. In New York City, he has appeared at the New York Theatre Workshop, the Triangle Rep., Alice's 4th Floor, and on ABC's One Life to Live. He has taught and lectured on acting, Shakespeare and the theatre at Yale University, Southern Connecticut State University, Quinnipiac University, the Yale Center for British Art and at the Hopkins School. Mr. Andreassi was the recipient of the 2004 Greater New Haven Arts Council award.  The Wilderness Medicine Institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School has also certified him as a Wilderness First Responder.

Margaret Andreassi, Managing Director

Barbara Schaffer, Director of Development

Barbara Schaffer has been involved with the Elm Shakespeare Company as Director of Development since April 1998. Ms. Schaffer joined the Elm Shakespeare Company with a background in both non-profit organizations and an extensive background in financial industries.

Ms. Schaffer, upon relocating to Connecticut in 1992, became Executive Director of High Hopes Therapeutic Riding, Inc., located in Old Lyme, CT. High Hopes is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving people with physical, mental and emotional challenges through therapeutic horseback riding. Ms. Schaffer was responsible for managing High Hopes' $500,000 annual operating budget and a staff of fifteen. During her tenure as Executive Director, Ms. Schaffer orchestrated High Hopes' selection as the host site for the 1995 Special Olympic World Games' Equestrian Competition. Ms. Schaffer also acted as Co-Commissioner of this three week event.

After giving birth to her first child in August 1995, Ms. Schaffer stepped down from her position as Executive Director and became Development Consultant to High Hopes with the mission of raising an Endowment fund. Beginning April 1996 through March 1998, Ms. Schaffer acted in this capacity and raised a $1,000,000 endowment fund for High Hopes.

Prior to entering the world of non-profit development and management, Ms. Schaffer enjoyed a twelve-year career in the private sector, predominately in the banking industry. As a Vice President with the Chase Manhattan Bank both in New York and London, Ms. Schaffer's responsibilities included Sales Management of Chase's largest Fortune 500 cash management portfolios in excess of $16 million and managing Chase's largest international institutional relationships while working in the U.K. office for two years and managing sales teams based both in New York and London.

Keely Knudsen, Director of Education

Keely Knudsen has worked with the Elm Shakespeare Company as an actress and choreographer since 2002. She has been involved with educational theatre for all levels since 1994 and currently holds a position at Quinnipiac University, where she teaches Acting, Musical Theatre, Voice and Movement, and Theatre for Young Audiences. Highlights of her outreach projects include a one–woman tour throughout the Western US of Conflict Resolution in Silence, Project Greenhope, where she used drama therapy techniques with previously incarcerated women in Harlem, and a fundraising project during which she choreographed and staged a musical with the members of the Special Olympics of Vermont. She made her Off-Broadway debut at the Public Theatre in Bicycle Country, and most recently frequented the stage at Carnegie Hall in Mikis Theoderakis’ Elektra with the Manhattan Philharmonic, Alexander Nevsky, with the St. Petersbrurg Philharmonic, and Zanetto with Peter Tiboris. She received her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and her Masters in Drama from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Her directing credits include the world premiere of Berlin at the Long Wharf and Collected Stories with the New Haven based theatre company, Theatre 4. Keely is a resident member of Cornerstone Productions and is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association.