Press/Reviews for Shakespeare by the Sea!
This year’s Shakespeare offering, directed by Douris-O’Hara, hasn’t been seen on the SBTS stage for almost twenty years.
“We’ve had Romeo and Juliet circled for our 30th anniversary season for quite some time now,” says Douris-O’Hara. “It’s perhaps Shakespeare’s most enduring and relevant play that has permeated all sort of areas of culture unlike any other story told. What excites me is the opportunity to introduce many new theatregoers to Romeo and Juliet… It is a story you may think you know, but if you have yet to see it live, it really rocks your world. It’s sometimes like watching a train wreck you know will happen and hoping you can change the ending.”
Playing Juliet for the first time since she was in high school, Jade Douris-O’Hara is excited to return to the role. SBTS newcomer Patrick Jeffrey joins Jade as Romeo.
“This is his first season here, and he is an actor we’ve been really excited about for years, and we’re just over the moon that he’s coming out to play in the park with us for the summer,” says Douris O’Hara.
From the halifaxpresents.com Article: Lies and love: Shakespeare by the Sea celebrates 30 years with Pinocchio & Romeo and Juliet
The Coast Season Launch: Shakespeare By The Sea announces 30th summer season
Pinocchio Reviews
NS Reviews : HALIFAX AND ANTIGONISH: A TALE OF TWO FAIRYTALES
“It’s the strength of the performances from this eclectic bunch of performers, who also double as musicians, that really makes this show a delight for everyone.”
TWISI Review: Rollicking Pinocchio is Real Poplar at Shakespeare By the Sea
Romeo and Juliet Reviews
“Romeo and Juliet are not played by real teenagers, which makes it even more impressive how thoroughly you believe that Patrick Jeffrey and Jade Douris-O’Hara are about fifteen and seventeen years old in these parts. Jeffrey’s Romeo has two speeds, he either meanders sheepishly like he isn’t sure where he’s going or what he wants to do, or he runs as fast as he possibly can. As poetic as Shakespeare’s language is, often when Jeffrey muses as Romeo you can hear the teenager rambling, making everything up as he goes along, amusing himself with his own charm, and building the crush up, as teenagers do, until it is as wide and all encompassing as the sky.”
TWISI Review: Shakespeare By the Sea Gives us a Romeo & Juliet for Our Time
“Director Drew O’Hara’s 90-minute version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is remarkably clear, full of life and a fun balance of light and dark, comedy and tragedy… [Jade] Douris O’Hara captures her vitality and the beauty of her language, as does Patrick Jeffrey as Romeo, a sensitive, boyish teen who matures through his discovery of love. The attraction between the two, who meet at a masquerade with a DJ and fun dancing, is very convincing.”
NS Reviews: Romeo and Juliet at Point Pleasant Park Full of Teen Spirit
Playing Romeo at Shakespeare By The Sea
Patrick Jeffrey has been cast as Romeo in the production of Romeo and Juliet in the upcoming summer season of Shakespeare By The Sea.
He will play opposite Jade Douris O’hara’s Juliet in a production directed by Drew Douris O’hara. Shakespeare’s famous tale of two star-crossed lovers who sacrifice everything for love. Romeo and Juliet is a timeless tale of generational conflict, familial duty, violence, protest, love, and ultimately: hope for a better tomorrow.
Romeo and Juliet runs from July 19- September 1, 2023.
He also plays Lampwick in the Shakespeare By The Sea production of Pinocchio, running in repertory with Romeo and Juliet all summer. Pinocchio is an original SBTS musical based on the classic tale by Carlo Collodi, from the company that brought you last year’s hit Cinderelly! With a witty script, directed by Jesse MacLean, full of puppet-children brought to life, talking crickets, magical fairies, singing donkeys, and a charming score with music and lyrics by Garry Williams, we invite you to come along with us on an adventure to ye olde Italian countryside!
Pinocchio runs from July 8- September 2, 2023.
SBTS closes out the 30th season with the return of the one-night-only Unrehearsed Dream! It's Shakespeare's classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream as you've never seen it before, nor will ever see it again! For one night only, SBTS actors take the stage, with only their lines memorized, in a play that has had absolutely no rehearsal. Fairies! Comedy! Maybe some music! Definitely some chaos!
The Unrehearsed Dream goes up and comes down September 3, 2023.
Press for The Woman in Black
Reviews and Press for the Woman in Black
Reviews are in!
Aaron Kropf’s Review Excerpt: “Patrick Jeffrey switches from the comical overdramatic actor at the beginning of the show to the horrified Arthur Kipps by the end of act one. This is a role for which he will be remembered. Seeing Jeffrey and Thomson on the stage together in this production is magical, and that is what theatre is all about.”
Lauchie, Liza and Rory nominated for Merritt Awards
Lauchie Liza and Rory was nominated for Outstanding Ensemble at the 2023 Robert Merritt awards!
Patrick Jeffrey and Mary Fay Coady were recognized for their outstanding work in Theatre Baddeck’s Lauchie Liza and Rory. Mary Fay Coady, notably, was nominated for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role.
The Merritt awards will be distributed at a ceremony on April 11, 2023.
For the full list of nominees visit This link to the Theatre Nova Scotia Website.
Finale - CBC Gem
Finale is now available to watch on CBC Gem. It’s on episode 3 of Reel East Coast - a limited series of Atlantic Canadian short films.
Link to the episode ( Finale is the fourth film in the show)
The Woman In Black
The Woman in Black
The Woman In Black
By Stephen Mallatratt and Susan Hill.
April 12-29, 2023
A modern horror classic.
Directed by Ron Jenkins. Featuring R.H. Thomson, Lara Lewis and Patrick Jeffrey.
A lawyer obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over him and his family by the spectre of a Woman in Black engages a skeptical young actor to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul.
BMO Studio Theatre, 7:30 PM April 12-29, 2023
2 PM matinees on April 22, 23 & 29
Tickets: $30 | $20 student. Industry Night is April 13!
506-652-7582
The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley
The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley
The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley
By Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melcon
Dec. 8-16, 2022
Directed by Lisa C. Ravensbergen
Featuring Caroline Bell, Caroline Coon, Kenzie Delo, Jeff Dingle, Patrick Jeffrey and Lara Lewis.
Set Designer | Andrea Evans
Stage Manager | Judy Joe Scheffler
Assistant Stage Manager | Patricia Vinluan
In this delightful companion play to Miss Bennet, Gunderson and Melcon once again bring Austen’s beloved characters to the stage for a yuletide sequel to Pride and Prejudice. While last year’s production of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley depicted the newly wed Darcys’ Christmas gathering on the ground floor of Pemberley, The Wickhams takes audiences to the downstairs servants’ quarters for that same celebration. Mrs. Reynolds, a no-nonsense housekeeper; Cassie, an eager new maid; and Brian, a lovesick footman, are bustling with preparations for holiday guests. But their work is interrupted by the midnight arrival of the definitely not invited Mr. Wickham—Lydia’s rogue of a husband and Mr. Darcy’s sworn enemy. The Wickhams is a charming holiday tale that explores the confines of class and the generosity of forgiveness.
Shadows in the Cove
Shadows in the Cove
Shadows in the Cove
by Mary-Colin Chisholm
Oct. 26-30, 2022
A new play commissioned and developed by MRT
Shadows in the Cove will be directed by Diane Roberts who is internationally recognized for her work. It stars diverse cast members that hail from Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick, including Linda Carvery, Jim Fowler, Martha Irving, Patrick Jeffrey, Kiana Josette, Tallas Munro and Laura Teasdale.
Oct 26 7:00pm Preview ~ Pay What You Can
Oct 27 – 29 7:00pm $30
Oct 30 2:00pm $30 ~ to be live-streamed; audience members may be caught on camera.
Chedabucto Place Performance Centre ~ Guysborough
Only 39 seats available per show.
Audience will be seated in close proximity to the set and the actors.
By 1829 Chedabucto Harbour, which had sheltered the Mi’kmaq since the end of the last ice age and more recently their European trading partners, was now called Guysborough. Newly home to Loyalists both black and white, the British shiretown became a place of prosperity and ruin, of opportunity and opportunism, of fish and lumber, gardens and wharves, taverns and churches and at least one unsolved murder.
Young Dr. Henry Inch, an émigré from Ulster, was charming, duplicitous, generous, ambitious and mysterious. On a deep winter morning he was found run through by a British cavalry sword, his corpse left alone to freeze all night in the town square. Why? Who?
All were there, yet none can say…
Not his protégé, Archy, the young Mi’kmaw whose trust he abused, nor Archy’s wife Gertie, known for her fierce skill with a knife.
Not his wife, Mary, a middle-aged widow of means, whom he married despite a twenty-year age gap.
Not her oh-so-respectable sister Cassie, a lady who would do anything to protect her family.
Certainly not midwife and medicinal rival, Mrs. Hannah Hawk, who knew how to kill when necessary, a lesson she learned while fighting her way up to freedom from slavery.
Not his rival in romance, Hagrain, the impetuous horse trader.
Why will no one speak in the name of justice for poor old dead Henry Inch?
Finale selected for FIN Atlantic International Film Festival
Finale
by Human Moves Media
Written, Directed, and Edited by Jacob Puiras.
Produced by Luc Trottier.
Featuring Allison Dawn Doiron, Patrick Jeffrey, Aaron Ryder, Sophia Bell.
Saturday September 17 at 12:30 in Halifax NS
In an anxiety-fueled look at backstage antics, the creative process, and the pressures of performance, an understudy must summon the courage to play the lead in a theatrical show's finale.
A Film4ward Production
Language: English
Director: Jacob Puiras
Country: Canada
Runtime: 13 minutes
Finale Event Listing on Atlantic International Film Festival Website
FIN Website
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
September 21 - October 1, 2022
One of the most celebrated plays of all time.
Directed by Stephen Tobias. Featuring Martha Irving, Patrick Jeffrey, Tallas Munro, and Kennedy McGeachy.
A story of yearning, passion, and despair. A semi-autobiographical memory play by Tennessee Williams. A son reflects on his stifling home and the needs of his nagging mother and fragile sister.
BMO Studio Theatre, 7:30 PM.
Tickets: $25 | $15 student.
tickets.saintjohntheatrecompany.com
506-652-7582
Link to the Press Release
Lauchie, Liza & Rory
Lauchie, Liza & Rory
Lauchie, Liza and Rory
By Sheldon Currie
August 4-27, 2022
Directed by Mary-Colin Chisholm. Starring Mary Fay Coady & Patrick Jeffrey.
From the author of The Glace Bay Miner's Museum comes this all-too-human comedy of unrequited love. Lauchie and Rory are twin brothers who could not be more different. Liza meets Lauchie at a dance and the whole family’s life is upended.The play’s two actors switch characters at a dizzying pace playing parents, siblings, children, priests, and nuns to weave the tale of a warm and tightly-knit family in post war Cape Breton coming to terms with the meaning of love and loyalty. This production will also include live music!
This moving comedy, by acclaimed Cape Breton writer Sheldon Currie, has toured across Canada and as far as New Zealand. It won the Robert Merritt Award for Outstanding New Play by a Nova Scotian in 2004.
Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes including one 15-minute intermission
REVIEWS
"It's magical to watch and the story is sweet, but it's the creative staging that makes this play truly shine!" - The Coast
TripAdvisor Reviews of LLR
“Two big thumbs up for this year's production of Lauchie, Liza and Rory - great performances by the two very talented actors in a play that was both humorous and poignant.” -AnthonyPS54
“These two actors are so amazing, so musically accomplished, their theatre arts and mime chops are so great that they can assume many different and hilarious characters, sometimes with the drop of eyeglasses or slumping into a limp. Oh and the Cape Breton Glace Bay place is prominent, that company house set! and the writing was great. and the ending so sweet. The audience laughed and pounded the floor and clapped all the way through.” -VickiJ328
“Such a lovely matinee show. The actors were superb and the experience was top-notch. The location of the theatre is also great - right in the heart of Baddeck. 10/10, will definitely be going back!” -SLV44
“I enjoyed the storyline but most importantly the actors were superb in delivering their parts considering the whole cast was played by 2 actors. Well done.” -ifed0lap0
“We saw Lauchie, Liza & Rory while in Baddeck. It was a nice story and entertaining. Small theatre with good acoustics. One actor, one actress playing multiple parts…switching roles was quite well done. Worth an evening out!” -RoseDhu
“Fabulous Experience We have been to two productions this summer and both have been wonderful. Highly recommend attending! Bery entertaining. The amount of talent is amazing.” -Edlindamiles
“Theatre Baddeck. The script, the directing, the actors, the sound, the stage design, the costumes and the props were all first rate. The theatre set-up was intimate and comfortable. Kudos to all.” -maryannmeadow
Shipwright - Radiant Rural Halls
Shipwright
by Vernon Corney with Patrick Jeffrey, Benton Hartley, and Joey Weale
March 5-6, 2022
Performances from 5-7 pm on March 5 & 6 at the Riverview Community Centre in Clyde River, PEI.
Shipwright is a storytelling exhibit that combines sculpture and performance to evoke Prince Edward Island’s shipbuilding past. Have a cup of tea at the Riverview Community Centre and witness a PEI shipyard straight from the nineteenth century, complete with a fleet of ships built by local craftsman Vernon Corney in their first public display. Each day, the space is occupied by a pair of shipwrights played by Patrick Jeffrey and Joey Weale. They work and sing, sleep and eat, play banjo and do their chores in a performance directed by Benton Hartley. Come feel the sense memory of PEI’s age of sail. This project is being produced with the support of the National Theatre School’s Theatre Engaging Communities Grant.
Attendance: This is a drop-in event. We ask that visitors wear a mask, follow COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and practice physical distancing. No pre-registration required.
Radiant Rural Halls
Radiant Rural Halls is a series of free, public art events including installations, workshops, screenings, and performances, held in rural P.E.I. community halls and organized by this town is small.
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
by Henrik Ibsen. Translated by Stephen Tobias.
September 22-25, 2021
A modern adaptation of a captivating play from the 1890s.
By Henrik Ibsen. Adapted and Directed by Stephen Tobias.
Featuring: Cameron Secord, Caroline Bell, Kennedy McGeachy, Kenzie Delo, Melissa MacGougan, Sandra Bell, and Patrick Jeffrey
Hedda Gabler is a captivating and timeless story dating back to the 1890s. The story is a tale of a woman who is trapped in a marriage and house that she does not want. The adaptation and design of the play will present a modern and unique perspective of the well-known play.
CW/TW: Adult language. Discussions of sexual situations. Depictions of suicide. Use of guns.
Link to Streamed Performance
Link to Grid City Coverage of Season Launch
Link to the Media Release Page
The Loyalist Burial Ground Project
The Loyalist Burial Ground Project
By Caroline Bell, Kenzie Delo, Patrick Jeffrey, Melissa MacGougan.
August 25-28, 2021
Directed by Ron Jenkins. Dramaturgy by Lara Lewis.
Part history, part mystery…take a stroll through uptown Saint John as you have never experienced before! Join the Resident Artists of the Atlantic Repertory Company on an intimate, whimsical, part fictional, part historical walking tour through uptown Saint John. Complete with vignettes, songs, stories and so much more!
Free of charge. Participants need to arrive at BMO Studio Theatre, 112 Princess St by 7:15pm (performance begins at 7:30pm). Limit 12 people per performance. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes!
Link to the Season Launch Press Release
Link to the Show Press Release
No Man Is An Island
No Man Is An Island
by Thomas Hodd.
August 4-13, 2021
Directed by Ron Jenkins. Featuring Caroline Bell, Kenzie Delo, Patrick Jeffrey, Lara Lewis, and Cameron Secord.
August 4-7, 2021 | BMO Studio Theatre | Tickets: $25 adult | $15 student
Streaming $15.00 – August 6 & 7
A special story with ties close to home. No Man Is An Island is an original script with local connections written by NB playwright Thomas Hodd.
Inspired by the history of Partridge Island. The play is a story of immigration, sacrifice and belief while facing one’s fear of others, and what it takes to make a community.
Link to the Press Release
Link to CTV Article
Link to Telegraph Journal Article