We’ve almost made it to the end of 2025, and what a year it has been! No wonder I am feeling tired, it has been a big year for us. Thank you to everyone who came to our shows, volunteered for us and attended our events. What a gift to be able to share this with you!

While We Wait

We performed our newest kids’ show, While We Wait during four sold-out shows at the Bus Stop Theatre in late January. The show follows a year in the life of a 10-year-old girl as she struggles against the changes in life. We are excited to be dusting off the show to bring it to the Wee Festival in Toronto and the Niagara Children’s Festival this May!

Heart’s Desire Tea

In February we held our first annual afternoon tea fundraiser for our youth programs! We had a very pleasant afternoon hosting guests at the Local Council of Women Halifax where our devoted youth participants served an assortment of cakes, sandwiches and tea. We are looking forward to hosting another afternoon tea fundraiser this March - stay tuned for more details!

Outdoor Theatre Retreat on the Eastern Shore

Thanks to our afternoon tea fundraiser and our continued partnership with the Adventure Earth Centre, we were able to take a group of 15 youth to the Deanery Project on the Eastern Shore for a weekend of theatre-making and outdoor fun. This weekend is such a highlight for Lily and I as we witness the creativity and joy of bringing pre-teens outdoors to make art.

Icarus, Falling of Birds

At the end of August, amid forest fires and droughts, we brought to life Icarus, Falling of Birds, a giant outdoor spectacle based on the book of poetry and photos by Harry Thurston and Thaddeus Holownia. We performed it over three days at York Redoubt in Halifax and at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in the Valley for 450 audience members. This was our biggest production yet, with musicians, giant puppets, a youth ensemble, a live poetry reading and a 25’ scroll.

Youth Program

In the spring we were frequent guests at Oxford Elementary thanks to the Nova Scotia Art Gallery’s Arts Smart program. We worked with Ms. Hanna Longard’s grade 6 classes to create super hero characters which they presented to their grade 1 reading buddies. We also worked with Halifax Regional Arts to pilot an afterschool drama program at Admiral Westphal Elementary with superstar child- and youth-care practitioner Mr. Erik Garf.

We’ve continued to run our Adventures in Outdoor Theatre program with the Adventure Earth Centre at Shubie Park throughout the spring and fall. This fall we added a Young Company program to our roaster of programs for teenagers that will culminate in a school tour this April.

In Development

We’re cooking up some new shows! Thanks to a research grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, Lily has been working on an adaptation of Rebecca Roher’s newest graphic novel called 100 Year Old Wisdom.

We have also spent some time in the late fall working with Ali Joy Richardson on a new play called, Promise: A Tragedy of Female Friendship, thanks to the Home Delivery dramaturgy program by the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre and a commission grant from Arts Nova Scotia.

And just before the end of the year we began work on an interactive kid’s show with game designer Kai Oliver!

What’s Next?

As of January we will be artists-in-residence at Wonder’neath! Wonder’neath is a community arts hub in the North End of Halifax and home of the Sketch Library, a living archive of sketchbooks and stories. We are really looking forward to beginning the year diving into this fun project.

Thank you!

Thank you for joining us this year (and for reading the newsletter)! If you would like to support us with cold hard cash ($$$!) we are a part of the Theatre Nova Scotia Partnership program and can issue a charitable tax receipt for donations over $20.

That’s all folks!