"Director Joseph Papke has an exceptional gift for sharply examining centuries-old scripts and making them understandable in performance on their own terms for today’s general audience."

– Lavender Magazine, March 2018

From the first time he set foot on stage at the Children’s Theatre Company at age four, Minneapolis-native Joseph Papke has been in love with the theater.  He has worked as a professional actor and dialect coach at some of the best theaters in the Twin Cities including The Guthrie Theater, Park Square Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, Walking Shadow Theatre Company, Old Log Theater, Actors Theatre of MN, and many others.  He assistant directed Joe Dowling's final production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Guthrie Theater in 2015.  As an educator, he has guest taught theater skills at the University of Minnesota, the University of St. Thomas, Hamline University, St. Olaf College, Macalester College, and several high schools.  He earned his Master of Fine Arts under Michael Kahn at The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University in Washington, DC.  He is the founder and Artistic Director of Classical Actors Ensemble, where he has directed fifteen works of English Renaissance drama; an Associate Teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork; and a member of Actors' Equity Association.