Troubling Joy: A Bicycle Puppet Circus
2021-09-07 19:00 - 20:00, 2021-09-08 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Halifax)
Duration: Approx. 40 minutes Audience: Ages 8+
Presented by the Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council
Supported by Susan Leblanc, MLA Dartmouth North & Claudia Chender, MLA Dartmouth South
Sunday, September 5th Noon – Dartmouth Commons (FREE)
[CANCELLED] Monday, September 6th Noon – Halifax South Common
Presented by Halifax Fringe
[CANCELLED] Monday, September 6th 7PM – Cambridge Battery/Point Pleasant Park
Tuesday, September 7th 7PM – Cambridge Battery/Point Pleasant Park (TICKETED – $15)
[NEW] Wednesday, September 8th 2PM – Cambridge Battery/Point Pleasant Park (TICKETED – $15)
The North Barn Theatre Collective is bringing a new puppet show to audiences across Nova Scotia. Being toured entirely by bicycle, Troubling Joy: A Bicycle Puppet Circus will be visiting rural and urban communities across seven counties. This original performance will be performed outside for free at the Dartmouth Commons on September 5th and at the Halifax South Common on September 6th.
Troubling Joy: A Bicycle Puppet Circus features a cast of puppets who, in recognizing their discontent with the social structures that dictate how they live, discover the pleasure of change. Playing within the traditional circus format, the North Barn Theatre Collective uses puppetry, moving image, and song to investigate the promise of happiness, its illusions and our collective capacity to imagine new futures. This show appeals to the senses of all ages.

Presented by

In collaboration with

Primal @ Your Doorstep!
2022-05-13 - 2022-05-15 | Your own doorstep!
May 1st to 15th, order performances online at www.GetPrimal.ca
Friday, May 13th to Sunday, May 15th: ordered performance segments at your door! (Performed at a safe distance)

Saturday, May 14th, 6:30 PM full performance (ASL Interpretation)
The Bus Stop Theatre (2203 Gottingen St) + Online Stream (May 18th-20th) (CC)

Masking is required to attend this event in person, unless seated and drinking
ORDER A HOME DELIVERY
AND/OR
BUY TICKETS TO THE FULL SHOWCASE
An immersive theatrical experience delivered right to your front door!
Join The Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company for this bold devised theatre project as they explore the human cost of convenience that is paid when we order online.
Primal shares a glimpse behind closed factory doors at environmental racism, immoral surveillance, natural disasters, and more forms of worker exploitation that happens within corporations like Amazon.
In addition to a thrilling full performance at The Bus Stop Theatre on May 14th, audiences can place an order for a unique short performance that will be packaged up, shipped, and performed right to your porch, driveway stoop, street corner, or front lawn May 13-15th!
Order as of May 1st at www.GetPrimal.ca
With a focus on eclectic creative storytelling through text, movement, puppetry, music and radical audience accessibility, Primal is a tragicomic theatre experience that asks the question:
If we can’t change the world overnight, should we be able to deliver overnight?

Full Production Credits
Ivy Abbot-Charles: Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Derek Brikbeck: Website Designer & Logistical Coordinator / Ensemble Performer
Olivier Blais: Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Xinyi (Frisia) Li: Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Sarah Mackenzie: Stage Manager
Alynne Sinnemma: Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Emily Ranson: Assistant Producer
Logan Robins: Creative Collaborator / Director / Producer
Sophie Wilcott: Assistant Director

Biographies
Ivy Abbott-Charles- Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Ivy Abbott-Charles (she/her) is a Halifax-based actor with a Master’s degree in Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and a certificate in Puppetry Arts from Mermaid Theatre. She has performed and collaborated on immersive theatre, children’s theatre, and political theatre, working with many local companies including DaPoPo, Zuppa, and Eastern Front. Over the last few years, she has also delved into the film world, acting in several short films, TV shows, and commercials.
Olivier Bias- Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Olivier (He/Him) is a recent graduate of the acting program at the Fountain School for Performing Arts at Dalhousie (FSPA). An aspiring writer, director and actor, he is a co-founder of a bilingual theatre company in Halifax, the Theatre DesAssimilés (TDA). Selected Credits for Acting include The Dog in the Manger; People, Places and things; The Crucible (FSPA) Les Chaises; Les Mangeurs d’ail (TDA). Other credits include Concord Floral (FSPA) as an Assistant Director and Mentire (TDA) as a production assistant.
Xinyi (Frisia) Li- Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Frisia 李昕怿 (she/her) is a photographer, theatre artist and a travel enthusiast living and working in Halifax/Kjipuktuk. Born and raised in Chongqing, China, her most recent work Dear World (2020) is an ode to her multicultural background and extensive travelling experience (before COVID-19). She recently finished her BA at Mount Allison University and continues to dedicate her work in global connection and telling the stories of those who lost their voice.
Logan Robins- Creative Collaborator / Director / Producer
Logan (he/they) is an environmental theatre maker, improviser, puppeteer, educator, musician, writer, designer, and creator of exhaustive lists- based in the Sipekne’katik region of Mi’kma’ki (colonially known as Gaspereau Valley, Nova Scotia).
Logan is the co-founder and Artistic Director of The Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company, with whom they recently wrote/directed/produced the musical Hippoposthumous as a part of the 2021 Halifax Fringe Festival! Currently you can catch Logan’s work as a creative collaborator on Eastern Front Theatre’s Macro Digitals: Connections as well as performing as an actor/improviser in Outside the March’s production of The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries– an adventurous theatrical experience that takes place over the phone! Logan believes in theatre as a tool for social change and that all art should be radically accessible.
Alynne Sinnemma- Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Alynne (she/her), a recent graduate of Acadia University’s Theatre program, is very excited to begin her work in Halifax’s indie theatre community! Selected previous roles include Rachael from One Man Two Guvnors’, with the Acadia Theatre Company and Grizzled New York City Cop from Giant Killer Shark: The Musical, with Kick at the Dark Theatre Company. In her free time Alynne takes aerial silks and acrobatics classes with Halifax Circus.

DOWNLOAD OUR PROGRAM APP FOR ALL EVENT DETAILS & UPDATES

ONLINE - Primal
2022-05-18 - 2022-05-20 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Online stream (May 18th – 20th) (CC)
>>BUY TICKETS
An immersive theatrical experience delivered right to your front door!
Join The Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company for this bold devised theatre project as they explore the human cost of convenience that is paid when we order online.
Primal shares a glimpse behind closed factory doors at environmental racism, immoral surveillance, natural disasters, and more forms of worker exploitation that happens within corporations like Amazon.
With a focus on eclectic creative storytelling through text, movement, puppetry, music and radical audience accessibility, Primal is a tragicomic theatre experience that asks the question:
If we can’t change the world overnight, should we be able to deliver overnight?

Full Production Credits
Ivy Abbot-Charles: Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Derek Brikbeck: Website Designer & Logistical Coordinator / Ensemble Performer
Olivier Blais: Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Xinyi (Frisia) Li: Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Sarah Mackenzie: Stage Manager
Alynne Sinnemma: Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Emily Ranson: Assistant Producer
Logan Robins: Creative Collaborator / Director / Producer
Sophie Wilcott: Assistant Director

Biographies
Ivy Abbott-Charles- Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Ivy Abbott-Charles (she/her) is a Halifax-based actor with a Master’s degree in Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and a certificate in Puppetry Arts from Mermaid Theatre. She has performed and collaborated on immersive theatre, children’s theatre, and political theatre, working with many local companies including DaPoPo, Zuppa, and Eastern Front. Over the last few years, she has also delved into the film world, acting in several short films, TV shows, and commercials.
Olivier Bias- Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Olivier (He/Him) is a recent graduate of the acting program at the Fountain School for Performing Arts at Dalhousie (FSPA). An aspiring writer, director and actor, he is a co-founder of a bilingual theatre company in Halifax, the Theatre DesAssimilés (TDA). Selected Credits for Acting include The Dog in the Manger; People, Places and things; The Crucible (FSPA) Les Chaises; Les Mangeurs d’ail (TDA). Other credits include Concord Floral (FSPA) as an Assistant Director and Mentire (TDA) as a production assistant.
Xinyi (Frisia) Li- Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Frisia 李昕怿 (she/her) is a photographer, theatre artist and a travel enthusiast living and working in Halifax/Kjipuktuk. Born and raised in Chongqing, China, her most recent work Dear World (2020) is an ode to her multicultural background and extensive travelling experience (before COVID-19). She recently finished her BA at Mount Allison University and continues to dedicate her work in global connection and telling the stories of those who lost their voice.
Logan Robins- Creative Collaborator / Director / Producer
Logan (he/they) is an environmental theatre maker, improviser, puppeteer, educator, musician, writer, designer, and creator of exhaustive lists- based in the Sipekne’katik region of Mi’kma’ki (colonially known as Gaspereau Valley, Nova Scotia).
Logan is the co-founder and Artistic Director of The Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company, with whom they recently wrote/directed/produced the musical Hippoposthumous as a part of the 2021 Halifax Fringe Festival! Currently you can catch Logan’s work as a creative collaborator on Eastern Front Theatre’s Macro Digitals: Connections as well as performing as an actor/improviser in Outside the March’s production of The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries– an adventurous theatrical experience that takes place over the phone! Logan believes in theatre as a tool for social change and that all art should be radically accessible.
Alynne Sinnemma- Creative Collaborator / Ensemble Performer
Alynne (she/her), a recent graduate of Acadia University’s Theatre program, is very excited to begin her work in Halifax’s indie theatre community! Selected previous roles include Rachael from One Man Two Guvnors’, with the Acadia Theatre Company and Grizzled New York City Cop from Giant Killer Shark: The Musical, with Kick at the Dark Theatre Company. In her free time Alynne takes aerial silks and acrobatics classes with Halifax Circus.

DOWNLOAD OUR PROGRAM APP FOR ALL EVENT DETAILS & UPDATES

ONLINE - Is This the Way I’m Going Out?
2022-05-18 - 2022-05-20 | Charlie’s Club, 5580 Cunard Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Online Stream (May 18th-20th) (CC)

>>BUY TICKETS
Running time: 35 minutes.
Halifax north ender Todd Matheson tells his stories of being a bartender. Confronting the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia’s claim that they represent him as part of 33, 000 workers, it’s docu theatre that collides the personal and the political, with the plight of the worker its beating heart.
Chippy, unvarnished, irreverent, and genuine—this immersive performance is at Matheson’s work, Charlie’s Club.
Note: This performance is auto biographical and references addiction and assault.

Source material and Performer: Todd Matheson
Researcher, Writer, and Director: Karen Bassett*

* The participation of this Artist is arranged by permission of Canadian Actors’ Equity Associationunder the provisions of the Dance Opera Theatre Policy (DOT).

Special thanks to:
Theofani Pitsiavas
Stephen Cross
The Regulars
Sarah Hubley, staff, Charlie’s Club
Susan Adams, owner, Charlie’s Club
Charlie’s Club
The North End of Halifax

DOWNLOAD OUR PROGRAM APP FOR ALL EVENT DETAILS & UPDATES

I See You by Lara Lewis
2023-05-03 19:00 - 20:00, 2023-05-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Radstorm, 2177 Gottingen Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Presented in partnership with Radstorm
Wednesday, May 3 @ 7:00pm
Wednesday, May 10 @ 7:00pm
Location: Radstorm (2177 Gottingen St)
Duration: 1 hour
Tickets: $10/$15/$20 (Pay what you can)
BUY TICKETS HERE

I See You is a performance art piece by Lara Lewis about her experiences as a figure drawing life model, exploring the relationship between artist and subject, the body as a means of profit, and the body image and gender feelings the work raises. I See You is part performance, part life drawing session, in which audience members are also artists drawing the performer.
Audience members are invited to bring art supplies to participate in this special life drawing session (this is optional if you’d simply like to be a spectator). A limited amount of art supplies will be available for those who do not have art supplies of their own.
Credits:
Created & performed by Lara Lewis
Facilitated by Rob Cameron
Dramaturgy by Santiago Guzmán & Jena McLean
Movement consultation by Alex Rioux
Music by Peter Sarty
I See You is followed by a regular 1 hour live model art class.

In The Dumps: An exclusive listening event
2023-05-06 10:00 - 15:00 | Africville Museum, 5795 Africville Rd, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 2R9, Canada
By Shauntay Grant
Part of Climate Change and Other Small Talk
Created by Sunny Drake and produced in association with Why Not Theatre and 9 companies around the world

Saturday, May 6th – Every hour @ 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 2:00pm, 3:00pm
Location: Africville Museum (5795 Africville Rd)
Duration: 1 hour
Audience members will have one hour to enjoy welcome/introductory remarks by museum staff, peruse the museum and listen to two audio plays and music while wandering through Africville Park.
Tickets are FREE but, if they are able, audience members are encouraged to make a donation to The Africville Heritage Trust. Donations can be made through the trust’s Canada Helps page or at the museum on the day of the event.
BOOK TICKETS HERE

An exclusive, pre-release, listening event!
Presented by – Zuppa, Mayworks Kjipuktuk/Halifax, The Africville Museum and The Ecology Action Centre.
In The Dumps, by Shauntay Grant
In the wake of the Africville apology, a father enlists his eleven-year-old son in an act of illegal dumping to challenge decades of environmental racism in their rural Black Nova Scotian community. Their banter moves between playful and serious as they discuss ways of bringing about meaningful change.
In The Dumps is an audio play. It’s like a radio play…but it’s not on the radio. Audience members will be provided with wireless headphones and are invited to wander around Africville Park while they listen. By attending the listening event, audience members will get to hear In The Dumps more than one month before its release date AND be treated to another pre-release selection from the Climate Change and Other Small Talk series; Rolling Hills by Carmen Aguirre, produced in Vancouver by Electric Company.
The Africville Museum is not usually open on Saturday. Museum staff have generously agreed to allow In The Dumps audiences to peruse the exhibit as part of the event. Furthermore, staff from the museum will welcome the audiences and give a brief, contextual introduction about the museum and how it relates to Shauntay’s play.
Accessibility:
A transcript is available on demand at info@MayworksKjipuktukHfx.ca
Further accessibility measures are in development. Refer to our Accessibility page for updates.
Warning:
In The Dumps contains mild profanity.
Rolling Hills contains mature themes: military violence with civilian casualties (teens), PTSD, and strong language.
Episode Credits: In The Dumps
Written by Shauntay Grant
Directed by Mike Payette
Starring:
Jacob Sampson as Dad
Ny Langdon as Nate
with
Liliona Quarmyne as Mom
Ben Stone as the Security Guard
Jacob Sampson and Ben Stone are members of ACTRA Maritimes and were engaged under Music Code 2011
Mike Payette is a member of The Canadian Actors’ Equity Association and was engaged under the D.O.T. Agreement
Sound design, music and audio mixing by Jackson Fairfax-Perry
Dramaturgy by Jacob Sampson and Myekah Payne
Episode produced by ZUPPA with support from Sunny Drake Productions
Episode Producer & Production Manager Ben Stone
Recording engineers: Ben Creelman and Luke Batiot at Village Sound and Jackson Fairfax-Perry
In The Dumps was produced in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia), the territory of the Mi’kmaq.
Climate Change and Other Small Talk is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council, with additional support for this episode by Arts Nova Scotia, and Halifax Culture and Events.
Zuppa is funded by The Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia and Halifax Culture and Events

Climate Change and Other Small Talk
Created by Sunny Drake and produced in association with Why Not Theatre and 9 companies around the world
Feeling overwhelmed by the looming threat of climate change? We’ve got you! Sunny Drake’s Climate Change and Other Small Talk is a theatrical podcast that is here to hold your hand through the scary stuff and entertain you at the same time.
Made by 9 creative teams around the world, these podcast episodes have got it all: from the witty to the wacky, and the serious to the silly. It’s guaranteed to be fun and ignite your inner climate warrior all while offering global perspectives on the climate crisis.
There will be weird sound effects. An angry panda running a submarine. And a 500-year-old tree that… well we can’t give the rest away.
Launching Earth Day – April 22nd – subscribe at ClimateChangeAndOtherSmallTalk.com or wherever you get your podcasts, so you never miss an episode. Learning about how to survive the apocalypse has never been so fun.

The Movements
2023-05-25 20:00 - 21:30, 2023-05-26 20:00 - 21:30, 2023-05-27 20:00 - 21:30, 2023-06-01 20:00 - 21:30, 2023-06-02 20:00 - 21:30, 2023-06-03 20:00 - 21:30, 2023-06-06 20:00 - 21:30 | Alderney Landing Theatre, 2 Ochterloney St, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, B2Y 4W1, Canada
By Zuppa
Presented in partnership with STAGES Theatre Festival

Thursday, May 25th @ 8:00pm
Friday, May 26th @ 8:00pm
Saturday, May 27th @ 8:00pm
Thursday, June 1st @ 8:00pm
Friday, June 2nd @ 8:00pm
Saturday, June 3rd @ 8:00pm
Tuesday, June 6th @ 8:00pm

Location: Alderney Landing Theatre (2 Ochterloney St)
Duration: 90 mins
Tickets: $15/$20/$25 (Pay what you can)
BUY TICKETS HERE

The Movements is a high-octane theatre/dance spectacular and the economics class you never had in school. It’s a show about the global economy in the form of a 90-minute workout routine. Accompanied by a soaring musical score and multi-layered video design, four performers never quit as they transform dry data into aerobic movement before your very eyes. Covering everything from GDP and the WHO to wealth inequality and inflation, The Movements examines the mind-boggling complexity of these hot topics in a way that is accessible and endlessly engaging.
Credits:
Starring (alphabetical):
Stewart Legere
Faly Mevamanana
Liliona Quarmyne
Rebecca Wolfe
Choreographer:
Liliona Quarmyne
Video Designers:
Christian Ludwig Hansen with Anna Shepard
Composer:
Stewart Legere
Lighting Design:
Jessica Lewis
Director:
Alex McLean
Dance Coach:
Rebecca Wolfe
Video Operator:
Christian Ludwig Hansen
Creation Intern: Kate Urquart
Producer: Sophie Schade
Created in partnership with Kinetic Studio and Halifax Dance.
Generously supported by the Craig Foundation and the Black Family Foundation.

Fille de laitier
2024-05-11 19:00 - 20:30 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Performance Francophone
Fille, filleule et arrière-petite-fille de laitiers, Arleen Thibault présente son 2e solo de conte en puisant, cette fois, dans ses anecdotes familiales et une collecte de souvenirs de livreurs de lait auprès du grand public. Accompagnée sur scène par le musicien Robin Servant, elle nous livre avec humour et tendresse les vérités et les mythes d’un métier sur le point d’entrer dans la légende.
Spectacle de conte et musique – 75 minutes
Sur scène: Arleen Thibault conteuse et Robin Servant musicien.

Une brève discussion “Q&A” prendra place suite au spectacle
>> Enregistrement pour service de garde GRATUIT pour enfants (en anglais) pendant le spectacle

ÉQUIPE DE CRÉATION
Texte, interprétation et mise en scène : Arleen Thibault / Musique et conception sonore : Robin Servant / Assistance à la mise en scène : Cyntia Southière / Conseil à l’écriture : Gigi Bigot (France) / Explorations scéniques : Stéphane Guertin, Andréanne Joubert et Sylvie Faivre (France) / Conseil aux costumes : Viviane Lacombe / Conseil à l’éclairage : Maxine Pétrin
PRODUCTION
Production : Arleen Thibault et Cyntia Southière
Coproduction : Vitrines sur la relève de Québec et Philippe Beaulieu Gestion Artistique
Directrice Technique : Noémie Percy
Directrice de tournée : Cyntia Southière

Daughter, god-daughter and great-granddaughter of milkmen. Celebrated Quebec storyteller Arleen Thibault delves into family lore to share memories of a job and a way of life that generations later is making its way into the realm of myth and legend. Presented in French only.

Flower Bed
2025-05-09 19:30 - 20:00, 2025-05-10 19:30 - 20:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
Written and performed by Noella Murphy
Flower Bed is an accessible chronicle of chronic illness. Using puppets, humour, and visual art, it creatively explores what life is like when your full-time job is Living With Pain. Noella Murphy is a clown, a visual artist, a theatre maker, and a medical mystery. From a misogynistic healthcare system that ignores women’s pain to the struggles of being confined to your bed for months on end, Noella reflects on the absurdity, grief, and transformation that comes with chronic illness, creating a place to share her story and allow others to see their experiences reflected onstage. With two complementary components (an onstage performance and an interactive gallery show), this multidisciplinary piece is a visual spectacle, a place for conversation, and a pathway towards empathy for those who have dealt with any form of illness in their lives.
Discounted tickets are sold as a Double Bill with Archive of Loneliness

Flower Bed Team
Noella Murphy – Creator/Performer
Lou Campbell – Director/Dramaturg
Laura Stinson – Puppet Designer/Puppeteer
Ginevra Syperek – Costume Co-designer
Ashley MacDonald and Susie Murphy – Costume Co-designers
Colleen Arcturus MacIsaac – Producer
Thank you to Arts Nova Scotia for their support of this project.
ASL interpretation will be provided for the May 10th performance.
Childcare will be provided for this event. Please use this REGISTRATION FORM.

Bios
Noella Murphy – Creator/Performer
Noella Murphy (she/they) is a mad and disabled actor, costume designer, visual artist, and all-around clown. She holds a BFA from NSCAD University, and is an alum of Kinsale’s Wooden O Drama Program (Ireland). Despite an active visual arts practice of her own, Noella is deeply interested in sharing art as a therapeutic tool, and much of Noella’s professional career has been dedicated to working with folks with varying backgrounds, disabilities, young, and old. Noella uses these various expertises, as well as her background in clowning and visual art, to explore deeper, more challenging subject matter, while simultaneously infusing these discoveries with light, care, and play. Visually, Noella concentrates has been fascinated by the flora that surrounds her. Exploring realism with permission to choose unnatural size, colours, or different materials, Noella never tires of botanical art and using her work to show the viewer a different perspective. Her pieces range from lino cuts, etchings, to watercolour on wood canvases with pen on top and more recently paint marker. Drawn to line and stippling, the style ranges from realism to a more graphic approach.
@noella_murphy
Lou Campbell – Director/Dramaturg
Lou Campbell (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, NS. Their practice traverses many mediums including performance, clown, stand-up, drag, poetry and sound. They create work that unpacks the inner workings of their own experiences, usually manifesting in the open sharing of mortifying past mistakes. Their award winning solo show PRUDE premiered at EFT at the Stages festival. It has since toured across the country to festivals such as rEVolver, High Performance Rodeo, Outfest, and Next Stage Festival. Lou also co-runs a cross-province collective based in Toronto and Halifax called Probably Theatre. This collective creates performance work devised from poetry, and runs events and exhibitions that facilitate the creation of new work by other artists.⁠ Lou is thrilled to be working on Flower Bed.
Laura Stinson – Puppet Designer/Puppeteer
Laura Stinson (she/they) – Laura crafts images from both found and traditional materials. These creations become narratives, characters and atmospheres in a variety of theatrical spectacles. She began her career in puppetry with Bread and Puppet Theater in 2016. After four years working as a touring member and subsequent resident puppeteer with the company, Laura moved back to Mi’kma’ki and co-founded North Barn Theatre with Ian McFarlane in 2020. Alongside making work with North Barn she continues to collaborate with other artists as a performer, designer and builder. She also shares her specialized knowledge by leading community workshops in both puppet construction and performance across the Atlantic region. She currently lives and works in Mi’kma’ki.

Fallow
Come see Noella Murphy’s Fallow currently on exhibit in the lobby of the Bus Stop Theatre in conjunction with Flower Bed.

The Huns by Matchstick Theatre
2025-08-26 - 2025-09-07 | Neptune Theatre – Craig Boardroom, 1593 Argyle St, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 2B2, Canada
Matchstick Theatre presents Michael Ross Albert’s play The Huns in Neptune Theatre’s Craig Boardroom. A cutting office comedy and nuanced exploration of today’s working world, The Huns is the first piece of Mayworks Kjipuktuk/Halifax’s new MOMENTUM programming. From August 26th to September 7th, experience the Atlantic Canadian premiere of one of the country’s most exciting new playwrights.
Three employees of a tech company—Shelley (Katerina Bakolias), Pete (Liam Fair), and Iris (Gil Anderson)—meet for an emergency conference call. Their office has been robbed and essential equipment is missing, with Gen-Seven set to launch ON MONDAY! The three co-workers have their bosses and colleagues on the line—WHAT COULD GO WRONG?!
The Huns is directed by Jake Planinc and designed by Jordan Palmer, with Chelsea Dickie (Stage Manager) and Alex Mills (House Manager). Matchstick’s 70-minute production has fully accessible, but extremely limited capacity. Tickets are $20 (with one PWYC preview on August 26th).
Performances are at 7:30PM Tuesday through Saturday and 2:00PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Please contact us in advance for accommodation at matchsticktheatre@gmail.com

Am I Ovary-Acting?
2026-05-10 19:00 - 20:00 | The Bus Stop Theatre Coop, 2203 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS, Canada
By Lunasea Theatre
$10 in advance and $15 at the door

If cost is a barrier, please reach out to info@mayworkskjipuktukhalifax.ca and we will accommodate you.

Childcare is available for free and on site during the May 10th reception and Q&A. Please register in advance.
ASL interpretation will be available.

Am I Ovary-Acting? is a work by LunaSea Theatre about reproductive justice that examines commonly held beliefs about health and medical care for those with ovaries/uteruses/vaginas. Through comedy, storytelling, rage and disbelief we explore reproductive health and justice through relevant objects. At Mayworks, our focus will be the history, uses and misuses of the speculum. This 50 minute show is part ted-talk, part conversation, part storytelling. When it comes to health and reproductive justice the political and social landscape right now is rife with misinformation, disinformation and half-truths. We are here to press against that tide with nuanced conversation and evidence-based information in a fun, curious, theatrical way.
Credits:
Created and performed by Kathleen Dorian and Ailsa Galbreath
Research by Claire Horn

KATHLEEN DORIAN (she/her) is a creator/actor based in Dartmouth, NS (Punamu’kwati’jk). She is co-Artistic Director of LunaSea Theatre, Nova Scotia’s foremost feminist theatre company (most recently producing SoloFest, a festival of new one-act works), and one quarter of the clown-troupe-turned-accidental-theatre-company Tea Time Creation Co. (First Date/Last Date, Gina Is Dead, Romeo & Juliet: A Drink Along, Midsummer Night’s Wet Dream). She has had the great pleasure of working with extremely talented Halifax peers as an actor (How Quickly Things Change – xo secret theatre; This is Nowhere, How Small How Far Away – Zuppa Theatre; The Very Hungry Caterpillar, My Favourite Story Book/Guess How Much I Love You, The Rainbow Fish – Mermaid Theatre) as well as an assistant director and director (Some Blow Flutes – HomeFirst Theatre, Booby Trap – Rooks Field Green). Kathleen is interested in puppetry, story through movement and magic, and meeting her audience in the space between performance and reality.
AILSA GALBREATH (she/her) is a theatre artist based in Punamu’kwati’jk (Dartmouth). Ailsa is an actor, creator, and producer. She is passionate about new work. Recently, Ailsa performed as a puppeteer in Gale Force’s ambitious outdoor creation Icarus: Falling of Birds. Ailsa played Flute in Neptune Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream last season. She performed in Two Planks and a Passion’s season of The Mountain and the Valley and Chased by the Bear. She has worked with Ship’s Company Theatre, Gale Force Theatre, PARC, secret theatre, EFT, HomeFirst, Zuppa Theatre, LunaSea Theatre Co, Halifax Theatre for Young People and Villain’s Theatre. Ailsa is 1/4th of Tea Time Creation Co, a clown troupe who seek to subvert the status quo with wacky fun, through the creation of new work and reinvention of classics. Ailsa is a certified teacher of the Interactive Teaching Method of the Alexander Technique. She is the Co-Artistic Director of LunaSea Theatre Company, a feminist theatre company whose work centres the voices of women, non-binary, and underrepresented genders.

CLAIRE HORN is a writer and researcher with a PhD in law (University of London) and an MA in gender and legal studies (NYU). From 2021-2024, she was a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at Dalhousie University’s Health Justice Institute, and she has held research fellowships with the Modern Law Review and the Wellcome Trust. She has researched and taught in law and policy governing sexual and reproductive health, rights, and technologies for six years and has published with a variety of nonfiction venues as well as academic journals including Body & Society, Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, The Journal of Medical Ethics, the Medical Law Review and Feminist Legal Studies. Her first book, Eve: The Disobedient Future of Birth, was published in 2023 and was longlisted for the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Book Award.
