As a regular performer at the Tavern, a member of the Senior Company, I'd have to say, yes, because it is a theater company.  Many of the shows, however, especially CABARET, which is currently running, have lots of new faces.  I've heard that a lot of professional actors in town are actually a bit frightened of the Tavern when they hear about the abbreviated rehearsal time taken to mount new shows.  True, we take a lot less time to rehearse a play than just about any theater in town.  That's because the mission of the Tavern is to create the same sort of atmosphere that Shakespeare's own companies worked in, to put it simply.  We feel that the audience is such a huge part of how we perform the plays, that when we do the Bard's work, we are most certainly not rehearsed to "perfection" by the final dress rehearsal.  For most of us, this is an exciting process, and allows us to present these works as living, vital entertainments, not "classics".  The bulk of each cast for our Shakespeare plays is made up of people who are familiar with this process and these words, so time is not wasted in what little rehearsal time we have.  We come "loaded for bear" -- and do not wait until the first rehearsal to start looking at our lines.

Jeff Watkins has nurtured a pretty large group of professionals that he can assemble for casting, but, like I said, there are always new faces.  That doesn't even include our Apprentice Company, a group of eight different young actors each season who are in training to be able to perform in the style that we try to maintain.  A huge number of performers who are now regulars have risen in ranks from this training situation. 

Now, there are so many actors and actresses that they have to pull from, that very few are going to be in every single show.  I've got three shows off right now myself (and it's killing me).  But, especially with Equity performers, it just makes better financial sense for someone's work week to include rehearsals and performances.  After all, the Tavern is totally year-round these days.  Even July, which used to be a dark month, is part of the season.  And as soon as one show closes, another opens.  And with the student matinee schedule, often a play opens while the previous one is still running.

So -- do they "cast the same people"?   Of course.  And for a reviewer to complain that an established theater company features familiar faces is just silly. 

-- Doug Kaye