About Us — Wisconsin Classic Stage

Our Mission

Classical Theatre
for the Modern Stage

Wisconsin Classic Stage is Milwaukee's dedicated classical repertory company, committed to presenting the great works of the dramatic canon with rigorous craft and fearless contemporary relevance. We believe that ancient stories hold modern truths — and that the stage is where those truths become undeniable.

Founded on the principle that theatrical excellence and genuine community belong together, WCS brings world-class classical production to Milwaukee audiences — with the intimacy, urgency, and ambition the work demands.

"The show doesn't start with lights down — it starts the moment the audience enters the room. That idea is central to how we approach every production at Wisconsin Classic Stage."

Josh Pohja Executive Artistic Producer

Administrative Team

The People Behind the Work

Artistic Director

Cole Castine

Cole Castine is Wisconsin Classic Stage's Artistic Director, bringing a distinctive artistic mindset and approach to classical theatre. Cole thinks beyond conventional frameworks, bringing clarity, vision, and invention to every facet of the work from acting to producing, and direction. His approach unifies space and performance into a cohesive theatrical language shaped by purpose. His work ethic guides Wisconsin Classic Stage toward seasons that are urgent, embodied, and intellectually alive.

Associate Producer · Marketing Advisor

Marvin Hannah Jr.

Marvin brings depth of experience and a powerful presence to everything he touches — on stage and behind the scenes. As Associate Producer and Marketing Advisor, he shapes how Wisconsin Classic Stage connects with Milwaukee and beyond, ensuring this company's work reaches the audiences it deserves. A performer of remarkable range, he is also a vital member of the acting ensemble.

Company Manager · Casting Associate

Katherine Ziemann

Katherine is the organizational heartbeat of Wisconsin Classic Stage — the person who ensures that ambitious vision becomes seamless reality. As Company Manager and Casting Associate, she oversees the day-to-day life of the company while playing a central role in assembling the powerhouse ensembles that define each production.

Founder · Executive Artistic Producer · Education Director

Josh Pohja

Josh Pohja is the Founder and Executive Artistic Producer of Wisconsin Classic Stage (est. 2025) bringing his distinctive creative vision to its launch with its critically acclaimed productions of Henry V and The Persians challenging and expanding its audience.

From 2022–2024, Pohja co-founded and served as Artistic Director of another local Milwaukee company, directing My Name is Rachel Corrie, Antigone, and three successive runs of All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 creating the foundation for which the company now thrives. Other notable productions directed in Milwaukee include Hamlet, An Enemy of the People, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Laramie Project, Blue Stockings, Endgame, Much Ado About Nothing, Golden Child, and She Kills Monsters, co-producing Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival ('23) and assistant directing its widely praised production of Great Expectations.

Earlier in his career, he founded Duende Collective in Los Angeles, developing actor training and contemporary classical approaches rooted in Viewpoints, Suzuki technique and Composition.

Pohja is a graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama for Acting during the residency of the Moscow Art Theatre; Anatoly Smeliansky, Andrei Șerban, Natalia Fedorova, as well as Bulgarian director Mladen Kiselov, Ibsen Scholar Brian Johnston, Victoria Santa Cruz, Gregory Lehane, Don Marinelli, and Don Wadsworth. These scholars and teachers shaped his love for re-imagining classical theatre.

As a teacher, he has mentored nationwide and locally and through his training lab WCS Actors Studio and APEX (Advanced Performance Experience) in Milwaukee.

As an actor, Pohja has performed nationally with, most notably, The Guthrie Theater, The Acting Company, Old Globe, Alley Theatre, Judson Church, HERE Arts Center, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, NYC Fringe Festival and more.

Josh is also a proud alumni of the Wisconsin Directors Lab, Saratoga International Theatre Institute (SITI) under the guidance of Anne Bogart and the SITI Company, and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. He is a 27 year member of Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.

Anne Bogart and Josh Pohja at Skidmore College, Summer 1998 — Anne Bogart and Josh Pohja · Skidmore College, Summer 1998

What We Stand For

The Canon, Alive

Aeschylus, Chekhov, Stein — these writers speak to today because they understood human nature completely. Our work is to unlock that conversation and let it breathe in the present tense.

Milwaukee, First

World-class classical theater belongs in Milwaukee. We are committed to a company genuinely rooted in this city — its talent, its audiences, its character — while reaching for the highest artistic standards anywhere.

III

The Whole Room

Theater is not a transaction. It is an event that begins the moment the audience crosses the threshold. We design every production with that in mind: the space, the atmosphere, the encounter.

The
Company

Classical Theatre
for the Modern Stage