Emily Mattina, Artistic Director hails from Lenox, Massachusetts, having availed herself of the rich cultural offerings in the Berkshires from an early age. Ms. Mattina earned a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire with a major in Theater and an M.A. in 17th Century English Literature with an emphasis on Shakespeare from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England. Ms. Mattina has worked as an actor, director, teaching artist, and arts administrator for companies and regional tours based in California, Connecticut, Minnesota, and New York.

The original founder of Shakesperience, Ms. Mattina auditions and hires actors and directors, directs performances and workshops, develops and manages the Residency Program Wing, and creates company literature. She has also developed the Shakesperience Approach through the many workshops and residency programs under her direction and she is the primary director for the touring performances of Shakespeare's plays. In addition to her work with Shakesperience, she has consulted and directed for youth theater companies in both New York and California, including PCPA Theatrefest and the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, and she is proudly listed on the Connecticut Commission Directory of Teaching Artists.

An incomplete list of the performances that Ms. Mattina has directed at Shakesperience and elsewhere include: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Alice in Wonderland, All in the Timing, All the Great Books (Abridged), Complete History of America (Abridged), Complete Works of William Shakespeare, (Abridged), Emperor's New Clothes, Hamlet, Henry V, I Think I Can (Musical), Jerry Finnegan's Sister, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Once Upon a Wolf, Othello, Paper Bag Princess, Peter and the Wolf, Pinocchio, Rapunzel, Robin Hood, Romeo and Juliet, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, The Prince and The Pauper, and The Taming of The Shrew.

Additionally, Ms. Mattina consults with other nonprofit arts groups regarding collaboration, outreach, and positive company culture. Her Shakespeare Interactive Workshops are currently performed, under her direction, throughout central California for the fifth consecutive year. The New Haven Business Times has identified Ms. Mattina among the 2006 "Forty Under 40" for her professional success and community involvement in New Haven County.

Jeffrey Lapham, Executive Director is a co-founder of Shakesperience Productions, Inc. Having completed his entire primary education in the Milford, Connecticut public schools, he attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he earned a B.A. in Mathematics with minors in Technical Theater and Classical Studies in 1994. After graduation, Mr. Lapham worked in the scene shop of Long Wharf Theater for two years before joining the Youth Tour of the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in 1996. Jeff served two years there as Production Manager and finished his sixth Summer Musical Season having ably filled the position of Technical Director.

While working on the production and management sides of Shakesperience in its infancy, Mr. Lapham worked as a freelance theatre technician throughout Connecticut, including at Long Wharf Theater, Hartford Stage Company, the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Yale Rep, and Goodspeed Opera, and several others. At the end of his freelance career, Mr. Lapham joined Cheney Designs in Bridgeport (now Bethel), where he worked on all aspects of props and scenery construction for commercial theatre, event, and video clients from a variety of business sectors.

From 2000-2003, Mr. Lapham served as the technical director for the Theater of the Performing Arts at Hartford's Learning Corridor, and as an Artist/Instructor in the Theater, Design & Production Department at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts (GHAA), both under the auspices of the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC). After nearly 4 years of teaching and technical directing, Jeff resigned from his CREC positions to fully assume his roles at Shakesperience, the rapidly expanding company he had co-founded in 1998.

In 2007 his work for Shakesperience and the community was recognized by his selection for The New Haven Business Times list of “Forty Under Forty” business professionals in New Haven County.  He helped manage the Greater Waterbury/Litchfield Hills Arts and Culture Assessment, was 2008 Volunteer of the Year for Main Street Waterbury, and currently serves as Treasurer of the Arts & Culture Collaborative, the Waterbury region's arts council.